


Equivalent Exchange

by kuroeko



Category: Inazuma Eleven, Inazuma Eleven GO
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dragons, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Magic, Angst with a Happy Ending, Animal Death, Blood, Enemies to Lovers, M/M, Mentions of Suicide Ideation, Motion Sickness, everyone lives except atsuya but that's really not a spoiler in ina11, inago is only for epilogue, theyre all funky lil mages doing their funky lil stop the world from ending thing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-09-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:00:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 65,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26176120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kuroeko/pseuds/kuroeko
Summary: A name for a name, a life for a life.
Relationships: Afuro Terumi | Aphrodi/Fubuki Shirou, Endou Mamoru/Rococo Urupa, Kazemaru Ichirouta/Miyasaka Ryou, Tachimukai Yuuki/Tsunami Jousuke
Comments: 42
Kudos: 20





	1. prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hello again!! 
> 
> So I watched 3 ghibli movies in a row, got possessed by ideas, and wrote an entire fic. I had like 5 songs on repeat the whole time because I wanted a certain mood, haha.... This one is quite plot heavy, but I hope it's still entertaining! Shoutout to my multiple friends that put up with me brainstorming plot in their DMs!!!
> 
> Thank you to [ Enkidudu ](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Enkidudu/pseuds/Enkidudu) for being my beta! The Encoco is for you <3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Continent Map.  
> Important cities and locations are marked.

“Atsuya, wait!” 

Two wolf tribe children tumbled through the melting winter snow as they played with each other. One with silver hair, the other with fiery orange hair, an usual color for someone from the South Wolf Tribe.

“Shirou! Catch!” Atsuya threw himself at his brother, hands digging into the frozen soil around him. He summoned shards of ice from their surroundings and after some effort managed to launch them through the air. Shirou responded by leveling the ground between them to create a wall, relying on the veins of ice that were ever-present in the permafrost. 

“Too weak!” Atsuya’s shards penetrated and gained mass as they exited through the impromptu barrier of ice and rock, tearing it apart in the process. Shifting quickly between forms and breaking through the remains of the shield, the russet wolf pup locked his jaws loosely around his brother’s thin human neck. 

“Gotcha,” came the low growl that emitted from within. Although young, his wolf jaws could extinguish life already. Teal eyes met with one another’s, this feature shared between the twin brothers. Their play time was suddenly cut short and Atsuya jumped back as a feather nearly cut his throat, only saved when he heard the thin whine of it honing in. 

“Hey!” Hackles rising, Atsuya whirled around to try and see where the feather had come from. The razor white feather had sheared off bits of his fur as it had flown through, and was now embedded in the barren tree trunk behind the two of them. The area around the feather’s entry point was singed black. 

“Show yourself! Coward!” He turned on the ground, trying to see what was attacking them. 

Another feather zipped through the air, lodging itself neatly next to his front paw and forcing him to back away from his brother. Snarling at thin air, he looked around for the culprit.

“Stop!” Shirou’s voice rang out through the silent tundra. Standing up, he held out his small arms in a show of pleading. “We were just playing! He wasn’t going to kill me!” 

The only sounds Atsuya could hear were from the squirrels rustling in the tree hollows from hibernation, a drip of water from a defrosting bush next to him, the gentle crackle of ice as it melted under the sun.

“Was that right?” A strange accent, and then an angel, a divine angel landed silently before them from the air. 

The two of them had heard of angels before. Beings that served one of the many Gods worshipped by these lands. The South Wolf Tribe worshipped the Wolf God and his pack that ran through the stars, yet other lands here had their own protectors. Sometimes travelers would come through and tell them all about their Gods and the beings that came with them. Oftentimes they’d try to convert the tribe, bringing papers and pictures, yet none of these other Gods could answer what the Wolf God always could. 

An angel was such a being, someone who served one of the Gods (or God?) who were from other parts of the land. Shirou tilted his head as he stared at this being, but noticed that it had...four wings. All the pictures of angels he had seen only had two. 

_Maybe this one’s a God._

“He’s my twin brother, and we were just play fighting!” Atsuya turned to see that his brother was shaking, but his small voice was confident and assertive. 

“Is this how the wolf tribe plays? My apologies, I thought you were being hunted and thought to take care of the problem.” The angel let the loose feathers in his hand fall to the ground at that moment. Feathers that could’ve easily ended Atsuya’s life if Shirou hadn’t spoken up. 

“You’re not from here, are you,” he snarled, still furious that an outsider had meddled with their own tribe. 

“Mmm, I guess I’m not,” The thick white furs crisscrossed with unusual red and gold embroidery on the angel should’ve been indication enough. The angel had long golden hair with ribboned braids that wrapped over the rest of their loose hair, yet the calculating crimson eyes were what would stand out in their memories for years to come. 

“Well then, be careful little ones. Atsuya. Shirou.” Saying each of their names, the angel looked at each of them in turn. Atsuya cried out in shock as a shiver went up his spine, and Shirou transformed into a grey wolf pup with a whine of surprise. 

“Oh? Those were your true names?” Crimson eyes widened in surprise. True names weren’t to be used casually at all. Guarded carefully by anyone that harbored magic, they reduced one to their base magic-less form when uttered while dispelling any magic they used or stored. 

Yet the two of them hadn’t transformed when calling out to each other. Possibly due to being twins. The angel cocked their head to one side, trying to make sense of this. True names only worked when hearing them from the person themselves, and yet they’d heard them from the opposite ones. Magical twins were rare enough that this phenomenon wasn’t widely known... They had only overheard the names earlier when flying past and had stopped to mistakenly help out. 

“You! A name for a name!” Atsuya angrily cried out after changing back, knowing the old tales and bindings. A whisper in the back of his mind urged him to back away. A true name from a God didn’t seem right for a wolf pup like him.

“Hmm…” the angel shifted their wings and then reached up to unbutton their fur capelet. Hands searching over the red tunic underneath, they reached around their neck and then pulled out a shining necklace. 

“This, for your names. I apologize.” They held it out and Atsuya hesitated a moment before snatching it from the gloved hand. A blue crystal sparkled brilliantly on the end of a golden chain, contrasting sharply with the being that it had come from. The sunlight from above reflected off of it, casting fragments of blue light that danced across their white surroundings. 

“It’s spelled for protection,” although the angel didn’t clarify whose. “Be careful with it, those are hard to come by.” A smile danced on the edge of their lips. Information omitted was never a lie.

Casually testing out their wings, they started to turn and launch themselves into the air when a small voice mixed with a bark cried out.

“Your name! For mine! That was only one name!” 

_Ah, this one was smarter. What was his name again? Shirou. I should really just kill them, but it isn’t worth the trouble. I’m only here to look around anyways. As long as_ **_he_ ** _doesn’t find out I did this I’m fine._

“Fine,” the angel acquiesced. Turning, four wings gently beat in an arc as the wind rose under them.

“My name is-” 


	2. soft snow

Two wolves ran through the frozen tundra, paws silent as they sank through the fresh snow from the night before to deliver a message to a member of their tribe. Reaching the edge of the boreal forest, they split apart from each other to more efficiently weave their way through the massive evergreens that stretched into the white skies above. Birds flew overhead and icicles sparkled as the sun gently shone down. A rare lull in the snowstorms that typically blanketed the Southern lands in the winter caused animal life to explode in activity. 

Trees blurred past them as they sped up before skidding to a stop in front of a sheer cliff face. Large boulders were haphazardly positioned all around the base, leading up to a rock ledge jutting out from above. Crumbling stones were sprinkled around the bottom, victims of cyclically freezing veins of ice that had seeped through and split the rock from within. Scrabbling up on top of one of the cracked boulders, the larger wolf of the two made it to the jutting rock ledge first. 

“Wolf brother!” he yipped as he clambered over the lip of the rock ledge. “You have visitors coming!”

“Visitors?” A questioning voice responded from within the cavern. A tufted silver haired youth with drooping teal eyes came out to greet his cousins. Fubuki moved back as the second wolf landed lightly on the ledge. 

“Yes! We spotted them in the northern riverbed. They saw us and called out that they were seeking you and asked us to lead them. We came to speak to you first.” Finishing his report, the wolf began nosing around at his hind leg trying to scratch an itch that had been bothering him ever since he had passed through the forest earlier.

Fubuki reached over and helped scratch the spot with his human fingers, ignoring the happy wolf tail that was now thumping eagerly into his thigh. 

“What name did they ask for me by?” Only one being still alive knew his true name, and if it wasn’t for the blue jewel that rested against his chest, he would’ve written all of it off as a fever dream. 

“They called you Bear Killer, it seems the humans know you by that name.” The larger wolf growled as he spoke of humans. Rarely did they venture this far. The South Wolf Tribe was composed of both beastmen and pure wolves, with the beastmen possessing the ability to shift into humanoid form if desired. The stronger the magic, the more human they appeared, with Fubuki being one of the strongest and only letting his ears and tail out due to pride as a beastman. 

“Did you see what the humans looked like?” 

“One was wearing a band...a golden one around his head, and he had brown hair. Stunk like storm clouds coming,” whined the smaller wolf. “Another had blonde hair and it all stood up in the air and smelled burnt… and there was another wearing strange glass over his eyes but he was wearing a cloak. I smelled one more human but couldn’t see them.” 

“I see.” Wolf descriptions were unreliable, as they tended to focus on how tasty the human looked or what they smelled like. Fubuki knew enough about humans, however, to know that these seemed to be important humans. Important humans tended to be powerful, and it was best to greet them properly before they tried to hunt him out. 

“That’s fine, I’ll meet them in the forest glade, the one where deer tend to gather in spring. Can you lead them there?” He stood back up, thinking on what he’d have to bring to meet a group of unknown humans. The necklace pressed against his chest, reminding him that he always had at least some protection on him.

“Of course wolf brother,” The larger wolf nipped at the hind legs of the smaller one, forcing them to jump down at the same time. “Do not worry, we will be watching over you from afar.” 

“Thank you, cousins.” 

The word brother was reserved deep in his heart, even though the whole tribe called him brother. He only had one, and that one was no longer with him in this life anymore. 

\---

Fubuki stood quietly in the glade, watching the shadows from the trees drift back and forth on the snowy ground. He could hear them approaching, smell them, even. The smell of proud horses that were trudging through the snow to bring their masters to him. He lived apart from the main tribe, a good decision on his part since many troublemakers that came out to seek him would leave the tribe alone. The end of his worn wooden staff tapped against the ground, absentmindedly drawing marks in the ground. Stopping short of completing a spell, he was rubbing it out with his foot when a snort from a distance greeted him. 

Feet hit the ground, and a spiky-haired man came first after dismounting from his horse. Eyebrows shaped like lightning framed dark hazel eyes, making Fubuki wonder if he was a rare weather mage. The dark cloak shifted slightly as the man walked over and Fubuki saw the red embroidery on the thick jackets underneath. _Fire mage._ That wasn’t good, as he was an ice mage. The man stopped short of the glade, looking around and seemingly checking for any traps. 

“If you come in peace, I will receive you in peace.” Fubuki quietly stated from his position at the far end of the small glade.

“Aw, Gouenji, stop being so suspicious.” A friendly voice called out, the figure still shrouded by the myriad of barren trees. “We won’t hurt you! We just wanted to talk.” The speaker dismounted as well, then walked forward out of the shadows into the glade. Fubuki knew he lived under a rock, but even he knew who this was. Sinking into a bow onto one knee, he waited to be acknowledged.

“Oh man, no need for formalities, please stand up. I should be the one bowing to you with our request.” Getting back up off of his knee, Fubuki was greeted by the young king. Golden circlet crowning his short brown hair that stuck up in two tufts above his ears, a stray group of bangs had fallen over his forehead blocking off part of his circlet. 

“Your majesty, what brings you here?” As he spoke he noticed that there were still two people outside of the glade. Waiting, watching.

“You can just call me Endou,” the king beamed at him from across the glade, his warm smile matching the muted red and gold cape that he was wearing. Unfamiliar marks swam across the hem of the cape, proving it to be spelled. “I’ve come with a fellow king to ask for your help. Kidou, if you don’t mind the snow-”

A thump in the snow answered Endou’s query, along with another louder thump and some gentle swearing. Whoever Kidou was had just tried to dismount and then slipped on a patch of ice. 

“Hello, I’m the king of the neighboring kingdom, Teikoku. Name’s Kidou.” The strange glasses the wolves had reported turned out to be spelled spectacles that the other king wore. He approached from the edge of the glade, waving one hand while nursing his rear end with the other. Tightly bundled up in furs and a large black cloak with gold embroidery, his clothing style was definitely not from these lands. “If you’re wondering about the other person that’s with our horses, that’s my guard, Sakuma.” 

“Ah, I see,” Fubuki wasn’t sure what to do in this situation. Faced with the heads of the two kingdoms on the continent, it felt like an awful lot of political responsibility in one place. Should he even bow to a neighboring king? He ended up giving an awkward half bow. 

“May I ask…?” _What brings all of you here? Why are both of you here? What’s happening?!_ Fubuki didn’t know how to politely voice his concerns with this meeting. Luckily, political education seemed to have been useful for picking up on subtle social cues since Kidou directly cut in to speak for the group. 

“We’re here to seek your help, or more like Endou is going to seek your help since you aren’t from my kingdom. I only came along to offer my assistance. We’re currently recruiting powerful allies from across our continent to aid us in battle.”

“Battle?!” War hadn’t been seen in these lands in centuries, as the two kingdoms got along well with one another. Sure, there were skirmishes on the borders but overall politically there wasn’t much trouble. And both of the kings were here asking for his help...which meant…

“...invasion from another continent?” Fubuki followed up with this comment, hoping that this wasn’t true. When the two kings cast a grim glance at each other and then nodded at him, his hopes fell. War meant death and destruction on lands that had only ever seen peace for hundreds of years. The general populace didn’t even know how to fight anymore. 

“That, and it’s not even from one side. There are two problems that we are dealing with right now. Both of them have been proving difficult to deal with alone. Poor Gouenji over here is at his wits’ end just trying to protect me in my castle.” Endou nodded over at the fire mage who seemed to be on constant stoic high alert. 

“Assassination?” Fubuki whispered in shock. King Endou was well loved by his people. From what he had heard, Endou was a rare and powerful weather mage, rivaling his grandfather in power and enabling Raimon to flourish as a major agricultural hub. To kill Endou would strike a debilitating blow to more than half of the continent at once. 

“You can say that, except it seems like he’s aiming for both our heads.” Kidou tacked onto the sobering conversation with a bitter tone. “Kingkiller is the nickname we’ve been giving him. From what we’ve heard he’s already taken care of kings on other continents. He almost got me once, too.” 

“Well OTHER than that, we’re also dealing with an invasion from outside the continent.” Endou brilliantly steered the topic in another sobering direction. “We can’t tell where they’re from so they’re essentially aliens to us, but it seems like they’re after some of our natural resources and also unfortunately destroying towns in the process. We’ve tried to confront them a few times with my king’s guard, but sadly we aren’t powerful enough. Which is why we’re now here to recruit you!” 

“Me?” Fubuki was taken aback by this bold declaration. “Why…”

“We heard rumors of a powerful ice mage under the title of Bear Killer and wanted to seek out the source of all the rumors.” Kidou explained. “We’re currently lacking an ice mage, and also anyone with a high amount of magical power would be especially useful in our battles.” 

“I...I’m not formally educated, though.” The aforementioned ice mage weakly protested. “I haven’t left the tundra before, and all my knowledge is from passing travelers or learning by myself.”

“Sometimes that’s the best way to learn,” Kidou assured him. “But if you are truly hesitant, would you at least let us see your powers? If it’s not up to what we expect, then we will leave you be. In the end, you won’t have to join unless you want to.” 

“I suppose...” ... _it wouldn’t do any harm…_ He’d wanted to see what other mages were like as well. Seeing as the ones present must be top of the line, it would be a fun challenge. Something to break up the tedious winter days that seemed to blend together. 

“Sounds great, do you know of a place where we could have a practice match? Anywhere that’s not populated is a good choice.” Endou clapped his hands together in anticipation, not noticing the tiny sparks that had appeared from between his gloves. Unfortunately they didn’t escape Fubuki’s notice, who simply smiled in response.

“Of course, you’re in the tundra after all.”

\---

A wide open plain of permafrost stretched in front of them. The layer of snow that had accumulated overnight was still soft and fresh, as the heat from the earth couldn’t reach through and melt it. 

“There’s no tribes nearby, and I can’t feel any pockets of heat in the ground so we should be clear of underground animals,” Fubuki remarked as he stood back up from where he had been checking the frozen soil. “This is the closest spot I could think of.”

“That works!” Endou clapped his hands in anticipation, then reached up and undid his cape. Tossing the expensive garment over his horse saddle, he turned around and smiled at Fubuki. 

“Let’s go!” 

“Wait,” Fubuki pulled back in surprise, “Your majesty, surely not against you?”

“Why not against me? I was the one who wanted to see a demonstration of your powers after all.”

“I- yes, but, your majesty what if I injure you-”

“Oh don’t worry about it, I’m quite hardy and young after all! C’mon!” Endou ran over into the middle of the field, stretching and jogging in place in a show of getting ready for a fight. Panicked, Fubuki turned around to see that everyone was either avoiding eye contact (Sakuma and Kidou) or giving him a wry smile of encouragement (Gouenji). 

“Don’t worry, if things do get out of hand we’ll put a stop to it,” Gouenji finally spoke up, seeing the distress reflected in the teal eyes. “But Endou can hold his own.”

“Alright…” Fubuki weakly walked over to the middle of the field, feeling like he had just signed a warrant for his own death. 

“C’mon let’s go!!!!” Endou shouted again, but this time with the added effect of storm clouds appearing from above. Fubuki had never fought a weather mage before, even less seen one, so he was in part fascinated and another part extremely stressed at this development. Glancing over at the three observers, he noticed that they’d all donned oilcloth capes. Apparently rain was a common problem when fighting Endou. 

Taking in a deep breath, Fubuki steeled himself, then sank deep into his own magic. Ice whispered out from all around him, ice in all shapes and forms. Water in the air was just liquid ice. Nudge it close enough to the right temperature and it would blossom into perfect crystals for him. Rain was just malleable water that could change into miniature shards if he wished. A deep rumble came from above, jarring him from his thoughts, but not enough to pull him out of his mental grip on the ice all around him. A certain sequence, a certain pull, and a large slab of ice breached up from the ground in front of him, successfully shielding him from the lightning bolt that sheared through half the slab’s thickness before fizzling out. 

_He’s powerful!_ Fubuki thought in shock as he registered the impact through the ice. Jumping into the air, planes of ice formed and fell under his feet as he launched himself up through the air. 

Kidou watched, impressed. Aerial combat was uncommon with mages as most of them couldn’t manipulate air, but this was an extremely novel way of gaining ground on an enemy. Bolts of lightning flashed through the sky as Endou controlled the elements to his liking, the humidity rising in the air as the king attempted to melt away the ice. Fubuki responded in turn by rapidly freezing the water in the air, dropping the temperature in turn. Planes of symmetrical ice appeared all around the ice mage, flashing in and out of existence as they defended him from lightning bolts. 

“It’s going nowhere, though, that ice mage is only defending.” Sakuma remarked as he leaned forward on his horse. He personally didn’t have an ounce of magic in him, but his skill with any shot was legendary and was the reason he served as Kidou’s guard on this trip. Mages often got overconfident in their magic, so having someone like him around covered the “common sense” base of traveling. Watching these two powerful mages fight, however, gave him chills up his spine. No bullet could take care of that.

“That’s true…” Kidou turned his attention back to the match happening in front of him. His spelled spectacles tracked the magic here and there, but there was so much powerful magic being used in front of him that they were ultimately rendered useless. Endou was pressing forward, having changed tack to use wind and rain to try and corner Fubuki who was doggedly defending himself. 

_I can’t run forever_ , Fubuki thought, stressed as he realized that he couldn’t just leave this fight as he would in the wild. 

The hidden jewel dug into his chest, disrupting the icy calm around him. 

_No._

He fell to the ground, barely managing to land on his feet and skidding back a few paces as his breathing turned ragged.

_No!_

Lightning rent through the air, tearing through the air towards him. Fubuki clutched his chest, distressed. Teal eyes looked up and reflected the bright bolt of light coming at him, eyes shifting to orange.

_YES!_

Endou was seconds away from grounding the lightning bolt elsewhere when he suddenly found himself buffeted by a blizzard of ice that swept at him. Startled by the sudden offense, he manipulated the wind to cast them aside only to find himself dodging spikes of ice that had grown up from the ground around him. Jumping into the air to avoid the underground attacks, he had to focus on maintaining the proper miniature jet streams to move him in the right direction while Fubuki pressed in on him. 

Now fighting in the air, the two mages spun around each other. Spikes of ice formed out of seemingly thin air that were split in two by well-placed bolts of lightning. Sheets of ice formed that Endou had to narrowly avoid with last-minute changes of the wind to prevent from being boxed in by them. Gouenji stood up straighter on the side, eyes narrowing as he watched the aerial dance in front of him. 

Fubuki pressed in, forcing down Endou to the ground and backing him up against slabs of ice that grew up and around him. Staff in hand, he leaned back with a delighted snarl on his face, a lance of ice forming up around the worn wood. Endou tore to the side, then had to quickly change direction as a spike of ice grew in the previously present gap between two perfectly hewn slabs of ice. His own startled fighting reflection stared back at him in the box of ice. The crisp taps of Fubuki jumping on ice through the air caused him to look up and then see a lance heading straight at him-

“Endou.” 

A wall of flame burst between the two mages. Fubuki cried out in surprise as the end of his staff was sheared off by the heat, leaving a blackened stump. His own concentration interrupted, the realization of what he had done rushed back into his head as he flew through the air down towards the ground. Squeezing his eyes shut, he desperately tried to cushion himself with something, anything, but his own magic had spiraled out of control from himself. Bracing himself for the worst, he suddenly landed on a soft, slightly prickly object. Slowly pushing himself up, he stared down onto a slick black-feathered surface in confusion.

“You all right?” Kidou called up at Fubuki, having guided his horse over to the middle of the battle site. “I summoned a giant penguin for you. Sorry I couldn’t think of anything better in the moment, penguins are sort of my default.”

“Penguin?” Fubuki had never heard of this creature before, but to be a summon-able creature...he looked up and met the wide open eye of the giant bird he was sitting on. Noting the sharp curve of its beak and the sleek black, white, and orange feathers, he decided that this must be a demonic creature. No way this was a normal creature.

Fubuki looked over at where the wall of flame had appeared, noting that the permafrost had been completely blackened and seared down a few feet to the stones underneath. Past the newly formed crevasse was Gouenji who was helping Endou up from where he had fallen back in surprise. 

_To be that powerful…_ Fubuki met Gouenji’s eyes, and suddenly realized that he had almost killed the king. If Gouenji hadn’t summoned the wall of fire, he might’ve found himself on the wanted and already dead list very quickly. Carefully sliding down the side of the penguin, he cautiously walked over to his side of the crevasse. 

“Your majesty, I-” 

“That was great! You really are powerful!” Endou had put his cloak back on and came over to yell across the crack at him. 

“I’m really sorry, wait what?” Fubuki finally registered what Endou had said. “But your majesty I almost killed you!”

“Aw man don’t worry, I almost get killed all the time, and I _did_ say go all out. I wasn’t really worried since these guys always have my back.” He smiled and patted Gouenji on the shoulder. Gouenji’s smile seemed a bit strained; the guy looked like he needed a vacation. 

“Regardless, that was excellent! If you don’t mind, I'd love it if you joined me in the capital city to help for a bit. You can always come back here, of course. What do you think, Kidou?” Endou looked over at his fellow king, always respecting his analytical opinion.

“I’m of the same opinion, I’ve never seen an ice mage move and work with ice as you did just now. You’re definitely a formidable opponent and a powerful ally to have. I would love to have you on our side.” Kidou didn’t remark that the magic manipulation he’d seen used was extremely high level magic. Impressive, considering Fubuki had no formal training.

“Wonderful, now what do you say, Bear Killer?” Upon hearing that, Fubuki realized he hadn’t even given his own name. Blushing in embarrassment, he thought over how the battle had gone. He hadn’t felt that level of excitement in a long time. The cold jewel pressed against his chest, weighing on his heart. That excitement had brought out things he had tried to seal away, distant memories of the past. But if he went with them, maybe he’d find closure in a new environment, new challenges.

“My name is Fubuki,” he propped his newly-burnt staff end in the snow next to him, then bowed down on one knee again in front of his king. “And I would be honored to help.” 


	3. warm welcome

An odd group of five made their way along the river: two kings, four horses, and one large wolf. Having just made their way out of the smaller mountain range that surrounded the tundra, they were now entering dense forest on their way to the capital. The group had been traveling for three days now, although while in the heart of the tundra they’d had little time for idle chatter. Fubuki proved extremely helpful in seeking both safe passage and shelter on their way out, causing a normally six day trip to be shortened into three. 

“Let’s set up camp soon,” Kidou remarked as he checked the setting sun overhead. “We’ve been traveling since sunrise, I’m sure the horses need a break as well.” 

“Sounds good, I’ll scout ahead,” Sakuma spurred his horse forward to check for a good camping spot. As a group, they were trying to avoid staying in any towns or cities to avoid unwanted attention. Two kings traveling together were too tempting for unsavory types and they wanted to make it back with the least amount of trouble. The last thing Endou needed was more weather work to undo whatever he did while fighting off random bandits. 

A low whistle sounded out from ahead, and Gouenji whistled back in acknowledgment. Sakuma had found a spot and Fubuki followed his scent through the woods to a large abandoned den near the river. Hidden behind a large amount of budding foliage and trees, it was the perfect spot to spend the night. Everyone busied themselves with setting up guarding spells and protections while also checking for traces of past spells from previous travelers.

“Seems like an oft-used spot,” Kidou remarked as he inspected a wayward stone that had half a spell written on it. “Understandable with how nice the location is.” 

“Means we should be extra careful tonight,” Sakuma answered as he took out a knife and scratched out a lingering spell. Good or bad, it didn’t matter, they wanted a clean slate to work with as spells mixing sometimes led to unexpected results. His eyepatch was flipped up, letting Fubuki see the fabled spelled eye that the legendary shooter had. He’d asked about it one night, curious as to how it worked. Apparently Kidou had picked Sakuma up off the streets and after learning of his skill with any shot, had crafted the spelled eye to assist with his work. 

The eye was an orange gemstone that had spell marks swimming all over it. There was even a black onyx pupil at the center. How it had been crafted was an absolute mystery to Fubuki but it was definitely expert handiwork. Without using the eye, Sakuma was still a mean shot, but with the tracking eye he was a veritable sniper. It came with the added bonus of being able to spot spells and “some other things” that Sakuma had grown vague about. 

Fubuki changed back into human form then began to help unpack the cookware that he had been carrying on his back. He’d packed up the little he had from his cave before saying goodbye to his tribe. They’d been sad to see him go but were understanding as to why he was leaving. He knew they’d keep the cave empty for him and await his return, but for now the quiet ice mage wanted to see the continent and help his king out.

“Gouenji, could you lend me a hand?” He gestured at the pile of kindling that he’d gathered, then stepped back as the fire mage barely seemed to twitch a finger and a generous fire sprung up in the cooking pit. Fubuki wasn’t worried about smoke or smells at the moment, having scented nothing alarming when running mild reconnaissance earlier. Settling down, he began to unpack some spices and grains to cook with. Sakuma returned with some fat quails and rabbits that he always managed to procure and Endou arrived lugging some water from the river in waterskins. 

Fubuki found it strange that the two kings were so eager to get their hands dirty with work, but he found himself quickly respecting the two practical leaders. His image of a king had always been someone distant that made others do their dirty work down below. Not a king that was currently skinning a rabbit and chatting about the northern crop trade with Sakuma next to the river. 

Night crept in and surrounded the small group as they ate and chatted with one another. Fubuki felt comfortable with them by now, a true feat seeing as he had led a mostly solitary life before this. Reaching over to spoon himself some more food from the pot, his tufted ears perked up as a rumble sounded in the distance causing the wooden spoon to rattle against the pot.

“Recently we’ve been seeing more and more natural disasters on both sides of the major mountain ridge between our kingdoms,” Kidou remarked as he picked at a quail leg. “Lots of minor earthquakes, which is why I came to see Endou in the first place to see if he had any ideas. Something else seems to be the problem, though, and this only started since our own spies caught sight of some suspicious foreigners that had started poking around different cities.” 

“We get travelers from abroad all the time, though, so we’re still not sure,” Sakuma added while stoking the fire. “Especially since Teikoku is renowned for our knowledge in magic within the Pillars, y’know the most eminent magic school around. It’s hard to track the sheer amount of foreigners that come through.” 

“Although when comparing information between the two of our spymasters, it seems like it’s the same group moving around in the shadows.” Kidou leaned back with a sigh as he gazed up at the stars above. “It’s too recent of a development for us to truly guess what they’re after. But whatever it is isn’t good, which is why we’re trying to get a group together to stop them when it comes down to an open battle.”

“So far we’ve only been catching them in one-on-one fights where they deal a good amount of damage to our forces then leave before we can catch them.” Gouenji’s voice cut through the conversation, his voice laced with annoyance at having been on the losing end in these chases far too often. “They’ve got powerful mage leaders. One’s a fire mage and another is an ice mage. Which is why we sought you out hoping that you’d be able to best the ice mage.” 

_ A fire mage that rivals Gouenji in power?!  _ Fubuki wasn’t quite sure if he had the level of power needed for dealing with a similar ice mage, especially a foreign one. Magic didn’t always work the same way even if the base formula was the same. 

“Alright, that’s enough discussion on this for the night.” Endou interrupted the conversation as he got up and stretched, stiff from having spent the whole day on a horse. “Who wants to practice with me?” 

“I’ll take you up on that,” Gouenji shed his cloak and walked over onto the side of the impromptu campsite. “But no magic today, just swords.” 

“Fine, fine, wouldn’t do to burn the forest down,” Endou teased his loyal head knight. Unsheathing his sword, he held it ready in anticipation of the ensuing battle. “Let’s go!” 

“I’ll take first watch.” Sakuma offered as he helped clean up the remains of the cook pit. “We only have a few more days of travel to go. Soon, we’ll reach the capital.”

“That’s nice.” Fubuki remarked, wondering what the capital looked like. He’d never ventured out of the tundra before and was finding all these new sights and scents fascinating. Discussion with them was interesting as well and helped pass the time while bundling up camp. Kidou had many novel ideas on developing his ice magic, Endou was eager to explain battle tactics with him, Gouenji let him practice dealing with fire magic, and Sakuma was happy to teach him how to shoot anything and everything. Shifting back into his large wolf form, he closed his eyes to take a quick nap before his watch shift. The last thing he heard was Endou’s laughter while friendly swords crossed in the background.

\---

“Welcome to the capital!” Endou called back to Fubuki who was walking in beastman form next to them now. A large wolf loping through city streets wasn’t a good look for staying discreet. Although with Endou’s presence there didn’t seem to be much of a point in hiding themselves. 

Fubuki looked around the bustling city, fascinated by the sheer amount of different people here. So many scents overwhelmed him. In the end, he had to wrap some cloth like a loose mask over his nose so he wouldn’t panic too easily. A suggestion Kidou had brought up before they’d entered the city gates as he’d never been to such a crowded community before. They were taking a back path to reach the distant castle at the crown of the gently sloping hill that supported the city, but even in these less-populated areas, life was still bursting from every corner. 

Paved streets were a new feeling under his fur soles, smooth stones that he could almost slip on. Towering buildings that seemed to almost lean into the street at the top loomed all around them as he walked. Clotheslines were strung between the upper windows and children of different races laughed and ran around underfoot. This was a residential area, but Fubuki could still make out scents of street cooking just a few streets over. Mouth watering slightly, he wondered what city food was like and made a mental note to explore the area while he was here. 

The group had their hoods up to avoid drawing too much attention, but just the unusual traveler’s clothing had gawkers watching from windows and alleyways. Fubuki felt like he stood out like a sore thumb, dressed in traditional clothing from the south that was better suited for the white tundras. Definitely not for the grey-washed city streets. Winding up through the dizzying roads, he found himself feeling lost with no sense of direction as he followed the group. It was a strange feeling, to not know where North was or be able to scent the major winds.

Squashing down a rising sense of panic, he felt relief when a large set of cast iron doors appeared in the far distance. Framed by solid slabs of white and gold-veined granite that had been transported here centuries ago by talented mages, the rock had been carefully fitted together to create a castle such that there were no visible seams on the outside. A moat surrounded the castle itself and a single stone drawbridge crossed into the towering fortress directly ahead. 

“It’s well defended,” Fubuki observed out loud as he noticed all the guard posts and felt the strain of magic in the earth here. Spells were woven all over the castle grounds. He figured Kidou probably only saw a blinding white object in the distance. Glancing up he saw that the spectacles had disappeared in place of a monocle. Smart.

“We used to have trouble, but it’s been a long time since any wars have broken out.” Endou remarked as he boldly headed towards the bridge. Stopping at the guardhouse, the men immediately recognized him and came rushing out in greeting. Endou was well loved by his people and the group found themselves held up more by castle workers wanting to talk than anything else. Finally arriving in the visiting chambers, the group shed all their excess baggage into the waiting hands of castle servants and fully relaxed for a bit. 

“The guest rooms will be set up soon, so just hang in there for a bit longer, Fubuki,” Endou teased the quiet mage who was cautiously sniffing around the room. “But before we all separate, it might be good to go over some new information with-”

“THERE YOU ARE!” A bright higher-pitched voice announced a new arrival to the room as the door banged open. The sudden volume increase caused Fubuki to shift back into wolf form in an act of defense. He knocked over the nearby chair in the process, scrambling upwards to right himself and change back as quickly as he could only to see a wide eyed girl staring at him from the doorway. Coral pink hair that curled up at her shoulders sat under a navy knit cap. She was dressed in dark breeches and an oversized navy formal jacket that had unraveling gold embroidery at the sleeve cuffs. 

“Woah, didn’t know you guys picked up a new pet dog on the way back, where’s that gonna stay?” Closing the door behind her, she hiked up some of the papers falling out from under her elbow and walked over to where Fubuki was nervously crouching.

“Touko, that’s our new ice mage.” Endou laughed as he introduced the curious girl to the cowering wolf. “Fubuki, this is Touko, my main source of information in the kingdom. Touko, this is Fubuki, he’s a beastman from the South Wolf Tribe and you just accidentally scared him back into wolf form.”

“Ohhh! Sorry about that,” She sheepishly backed away and then turned to the side. “You can change back now, I’m not looking.” 

“My clothes  _ do _ stay on,” Fubuki quietly remarked as he changed back with some effort and stood up. “Nice to meet you, Touko.” 

“Good to meet you!” Reaching forward, she eagerly shook his limp hand after grasping it from his side. “I’m so excited you’ve joined us. Are the rumors about him true?” Asking the group around her, she looked around for any reactions.

“True and better than the rumors,” Kidou remarked with a smile from the chair he had been resting in. “Good to see you’re well, Touko.”

“I  _ am _ doing well! But more importantly, I came because I got some new information.” Holding up the papers that had been stuffed under her arm, she waved the wrinkled sheets at the assembled members. “I tracked down some more rumors to the source. Remember how I mentioned there was a powerful water mage in the North? Well he’s located on the island off the coast of the northern desert. He doesn’t seem interested in battle magic, though, so you might have to go and persuade him yourself.” 

“Sounds like a fun challenge!” Endou proclaimed from where he was also resting in a chair. Gouenji smiled with amusement from the windowsill he was sitting at, keeping an eye on any happenings outside. A movement below caught his eye: dark teal hair and distinctive gold decorations flitted past and headed through the doorway below.

“You might want to hold off on traipsing off again for a bit,” Gouenji remarked while getting up from the windowsill. “At least spend some time doing your kingly duties at home.”

“Gouenji I’ll be fine, my-” Endou’s retort was cut short by the chamber door being roughly shoved open again. Fubuki needed to commend the door-maker seeing how it withstood so much force on a daily basis. A breathless dark-skinned figure rushed in and beelined straight for Endou. Fubuki tensed in surprise, then realized that no one else had reacted and instead seemed to be packing up to leave. Sakuma had already mysteriously disappeared.

“Endou! You’re back! I just heard from one of the servants.” Teal hair that was similar to Endou’s was held up by a loose circlet made of golden chains and small golden disks, marking him as royalty as well. Without further ado, this man immediately kissed Endou on the lips, pushing him back into the chair. Kidou was taking this moment to also exit the room.

“Rococo, good to see you, I’ll leave him to you!” Kidou cheerily called out as he disappeared around the corner of the spiral staircase. Gouenji chuckled, then walked past the royal pair while catching Fubuki and Touko’s arms in his. 

“C’mon, let’s leave these two lovebirds alone. We just got back after a long trip and they need some time.” Exiting the room, they crowded down the staircase together to enter the courtyard below.

“Course they do, you just don’t understand love, Gouenji. It’s great that Endou’s fiancé loves him so much. You wouldn’t even know that it was an arranged marriage just by looking at them with each other.” Touko leaned into Gouenji’s grip and patted his arm. “Too bad I’m into girls.” 

“You do not need to tell me that every time I so much as breathe near you.” Came Gouenji’s insufferable response. Fubuki laughed at this unexpected interaction and how flustered Gouenji had become.

“Endou has a fiancé?” Fubuki followed up, curious about this snippet of information from Touko. News from the capital wasn’t common in the distant southern tribes, and seeing as he had lived apart from the tribes he heard even less. 

“Yep! Endou’s grandfather, the previous King Endou, went off on some sea voyages to visit some distant continents after passing the crown to Endou’s father. Apparently he landed on the continent where Rococo’s from and had a hand in raising him within their royal family. They hit it off pretty well and - huzzah! - a political marriage was made!” Touko made some jazz hands to emphasize the end, much to Fubuki’s amusement. “Imagine Endou’s surprise when he found out that Rococo’s a man and not even a mage! But they hit it off really well and can barely be separated when in the castle. Thank goodness Rococo is here, though, he takes care of all the kingly duties that Endou neglects when he runs off on his frequent adventures.” 

“I see.” Unsure of how to follow up this explosive story, Fubuki was saved from the trouble as Touko turned back to needling a slightly uncomfortable Gouenji. A castle servant soon arrived to fetch him as he listened to Gouenji and Touko’s friendly one-sided bickering. Bidding them farewell, he headed off after the young servant boy to survey his new rooms.

\---

“Fubuki, how are you finding the capital?” Sakuma climbed in through the tower window, something that had scared Fubuki the first time, but by now he was used to it. A week had passed since he had first arrived, spending the initial days mostly sleeping and eating while adjusting to the new environment. The rest of the group had been busy dealing with duties that had piled up during their trip to find him and hadn’t had much time to talk. Now that he was mostly settled in, he had started exploring the castle but had stopped upon finding the royal library. Chock full of books he’d never seen before, Fubuki had eagerly borrowed as many as was allowed and proceeded to hole back up in his room to pore over them. 

“Quite nice, what little I’ve seen of it at least,” he responded while carefully bookmarking the page he was on. It was an interesting book on the dynamics of ice magic and how it related to water magic. He’d never been good with water magic, despite ice stemming from water. It was similar to being a cheese connoisseur. It didn’t transfer over to also being a milk connoisseur despite cheese coming from milk. He also didn’t even like milk. Placing it to the side, he stood up to go speak to Sakuma who was now straddling the windowsill. 

“It’s a nice day.” A casual remark, as he wasn’t sure what Sakuma was here for and the man seemed to enjoy teasing him at times. Glancing out past the light teal head of hair, he gazed at the clear blue skies that were present here, so different from his homeland.

“It sure is, and it’s a GREAT day to ask if you’d like to come along with us to seek out that new water mage.” Sakuma finally swung his other leg over the windowsill and landed neatly on the delicate handwoven rug with his dirty shoe soles. Fubuki winced a bit upon seeing this, then registered what had been offered.

“Oh of course, I’d be happy to come along.” He was curious to see the rest of the lands and also wanted to assist Endou in his recruitment efforts. 

“You sure? It’s the desert region, and you’re an ice mage.”

“Well I’ve never been so far north, I think it would be nice to see it at least once,” Fubuki replied. “Even if it’s the heat...I’m sure I’ll have to adapt if we do end up in battle. My homeland in the south is the coldest region after all.” 

“Spoken like a true warrior,” Sakuma proudly thumped him on the back while flashing him a smile. “Well now that you’ve agreed like I figured you would, let’s get you properly outfitted with travel gear.” Fubuki looked at the eyepatched man in confusion. 

“Gear..? I brought some clothes from home, I don’t think I’m lacking in anything…”

“Oh you sure are lacking, you just haven’t seen what modern conveniences we have in the city!” Upon seeing Fubuki’s mulish face Sakuma laughed and rubbed a shoulder. “Alright I’ll stop teasing you for being a tundra bumpkin, but really we’re going to get you some properly spelled clothes to suit your magic and a formal staff.”

“A staff!” Fubuki’s previous staff had been half burned off by Gouenji during the practice battle with Endou. The poor charred stick was now lying forlornly in a corner next to his still-unpacked bags. He didn’t truly need a staff to work magic, but most mages had some object they stored unused magical power in to draw upon over time. The core of his staff was undamaged, but it would be hard to conduct magical power through the damaged ends now. 

“I figured you’d want to stick with a staff since you already had one when we came to greet you, unless you want a different object? Endou uses his spelled gloves and I know Gouenji uses a necklace although I’ve never seen it.” 

_ A necklace, huh.  _ The jewel pressed against his chest again, the cool gem reminding him of his homeland. This one was spelled already, though, and he was used to handling a staff. 

“A staff is fine, but really if you bring me over to some forestland I can just pick a branch.” 

“We can’t have that! You’re a royal mage now, let’s get you some proper gear.”

“Royal mage?!” Fubuki was startled at this sudden promotion in rank. “But also, Sakuma, aren’t you...from Teikoku? Since I’m under Endou shouldn’t I be um, guided through Raimon?”

“Gouenji’s busy and has awful taste in equipment,” Sakuma easily responded. “And besides, Kidou and I both graduated from the Pillars, we know exactly what to look for in terms of the best spelled equipment.” Grabbing Fubuki’s arm, he pulled Fubuki out of his guestroom. 

“Now let’s get you some better tasting equipment in prep for your desert adventure! I’m thinking of some fine silver and gems...and maybe a cool eyepatch like me.” 


	4. moonlight

Fubuki was forced to acknowledge at this point that he really didn’t like horses and horses really didn’t like him. It made sense, as wolves were a natural predator to horses and he smelled like a musty wolf that had only just taken a quick dip in the river without bothering to dry off. However, he was now a royal mage and was traveling with the two kings through more populated territories. Thus he was forced to remain in beastman form to not alarm any of the villages they passed through. This meant that to keep up with the group, he had to ride a horse. The stableman had sworn that this was the gentlest, kindest, and easiest horse to ride but Fubuki felt like Kidou had probably summoned this creature from Hell. Every part of his body ached, especially his rear end. No amount of horse riding crash courses could’ve prepared him for this.

Exiting the forest into the grassy plains, the climate was slowly growing warmer as the group moved north. Fubuki sat up straighter on the back of the plodding horse, looking around with wonder in his eyes. It was just like the tundra, but with softly billowing strands of tall wild grass as far as the eye could see. There was little tree cover and few plants grew taller than the tips of the long golden grass. Packs of animals roamed in the distance, too far to be bothered by the mage’s presence. 

“It’ll be hard to defend ourselves here, are you sure there aren’t any towns nearby we could stay at?” Sakuma stated as he looked around the new environment, his face a mask of displeasure.

“No, this is the most dangerous stretch before we reach the next major town,” Gouenji pulled out a map that had been tightly coiled within an oilcloth container at his hip. “See here…” the two guards drew closer to each other to pore over the map as the group continued pushing through the gently wafting sea of grass. Eventually they drew up on a slight outcropping of sandstone and decided to set up camp there as the night was closing in on them. 

Fubuki haphazardly slid off of his horse’s back, cautiously giving her a pat on her neck as an awkward thanks. She huffed a bit but didn’t move as he unloaded the few belongings he always kept on him off of her saddle and onto his own back. The new cape Sakuma had procured for him was truly nice. Lightweight yet imbued with powerful spells that specifically assisted with ice magic, it was also designed for different climates with a removable white fur collar. The design centered around mobility as well, with a capelet that extended in the back into two long split cape ends. The fabric itself was a thick navy knit that was decorated with silver and white embroidery. Silver clasps and clear aquamarine gems weighed down the cape itself for when he chose to use aerial attacks. It must’ve cost a pretty penny, but it provided such high protection that the rest of his outfit could still be his old clothing. 

Running his hands again over the scalloped front edge of the capelet, he reached up and undid the most important item from the saddle: his new staff. The magic transfer had taken an entire day, as he had also switched magic cores from a rough turquoise stone he’d picked up in the river one day to a perfectly cut sapphire. The new core could store so much more energy and was easier to draw power from once it was attuned to him. It had been carefully set into the top of the slim silver staff that was nearly his height, capped off with a wickedly curved crescent blade that was more weapon than decoration. The staff was so light, he wondered if it was due to some crafting magic that made it so easy to use. Definitely a step up from his previous worn wooden stick. 

“I’ll take first watch again,” Sakuma remarked as he helped prepare dinner. None of them wanted to stray too far from the group at the moment so they were working off of previously packed rations. “We’ll have to be extra careful tonight because of how open this area is. Any fires that we start can be spotted a mile away.” Gouenji gave a mild snort at the last statement. The man took offense to anything that mentioned fire in a negative light.

“I’ll take second watch tonight, Gouenji, you’re third?” Fubuki offered to go next. Wolves were normally nocturnal, so it would be easy for him to stay up in the dead of night.

“Sure, let me know if you’d like me to take over earlier.” Getting up from the huddle, Gouenji went to check up on his horse and unload his bedroll. The kings always wanted to be on watch but since they were the most likely target, the rest of the group had resoundly opposed it. Therefore guard duty always fell on the three of them. Fubuki glanced up at the darkening sky, noting how bright the moon was tonight. Smiling slightly to himself, he also got up and brushed off his pants. 

“I think I’ll be fine tonight, it’s a full moon so my power will be at a peak.” He planned to use his watch shift to store some extra energy into his staff and further familiarize himself with it. Recently, he’d been sparring with Sakuma to learn how to fight with the crescent blade. The lightweight staff was proving to be a problem though, as he was frequently swinging too far or letting the staff fly off by accident. Easily shifting into wolf form and slightly startling the horses nearby, he curled up again on top of his staff and quickly fell asleep before his turn on watch. 

\---

A hand tugging at his tail got Fubuki awake and sleepily growling in confused aggression as he blinked away dreams of a snowy environment. The cool night wind ruffled his fur as he turned around and saw a familiar eyepatched man smiling at him. 

“Your turn,” Sakuma whispered as he stood back up. Fubuki inclined his head, muzzle twitching as he scented the air around him. Changing back with a small sigh, he picked up his crescent staff and climbed up on top of the sandstone outcrop to keep watch for the next few hours. Sakuma had already burrowed into his own bedroll below and was already snoring. A true feat considering how little time had passed between shift changes. Fubuki noted that he hadn’t been given any new information which meant that Sakuma must’ve had an uneventful shift. 

Settling back in place, Fubuki let a part of him drop deep into the well of his own power. Keeping a careful eye on his surroundings, his focus shifted into divesting portions of his magic reserves into the moonlit sapphire on his staff. If magic wasn’t constantly shifted out of his body, he’d lose the majority of it, as the energy came and went like any other natural process. Just like the moon that waxed and waned, yet tonight the moon was at its peak and so was his magic. 

Time passed, with the only sounds being from nocturnal animals that were flitting about in the long dark grass. Fubuki was drawing back from his magic transfer, deciding to keep the rest of his power on himself just in case, when an unusual shadow moved across the corner of his eye. Shifting slightly to better look at the spot, he wondered what the shadow had been. A bird? Maybe a ferret leaping through the grass? Leaning forward to get a better view, his necklace shifted and the cold gem pushed into his chest. He glanced upwards at the sudden touch, trying to loosen the necklace chain with his hand when he saw a new being in the air above.

An angel was there, silhouetted by the full moon. Four wings lazily beat the air in a staggered cycle, brushing against long golden hair that drifted in the night wind. Fubuki stared up in shock at this figure, the image dredging up a faraway memory from his childhood, from when Atsuya was still alive. 

Then the angel lifted up a hand, jolting Fubuki out of his memories. Quickly pushing himself up from the sandstone, one hand gripped his staff while the other tested the air, sensing for water that was always readily available. He watched as the angel drank something, then let the glittering vial drop to the ground through the sky. It hit a rock, the sound of breaking glass carrying over the whispering grass to his alert ears. 

Clear air stretched between the two as Fubuki stared upwards at the hovering figure. Clear air that was suddenly choked by feathers zipping towards their small group. 

“Sakuma! Gouenji!” Fubuki shouted as he threw up a dome of ice. The two guards scrambled awake, sensing from his panicked tone that something was very wrong. Having been crafted too quickly, the ice was thin and patchy in spots, causing the feathers to burn their way through the shield. A few had been stopped, losing heat and drive in the thicker patches of ice. Details Fubuki subconsciously processed as he tried to track where the angel had gone. 

“Fubuki, behind you!” Sakuma shouted up from where he had thrown his protective cape over his king while roughly kicking Kidou awake. The two were currently sheltered against the outcrop, backs pressed against the rock while Kidou nursed a bruising thigh and rapidly summoned protective penguins. Sakuma’s eyepatch was flipped up, letting him more easily track the rapidly moving target while loading his gun. Gouenji was protecting Endou, backs pressed against each other as they readied for a fight. As a fire mage, he was better suited to counter the assailant who seemed to use a similar type of magic.

Fubuki whirled around, barely getting his staff up in time to stop a thin gold blade from taking his head off. The rasp of metal on metal sounded through the air as Fubuki deflected the blade, jumping back and creating midair platforms of ice to start moving backwards into thin air. The angel pulled back for a moment, cocking their head in a strangely familiar fashion as they observed this unexpected maneuver. Glancing back down at the kings huddled below, the winged menace decided on a new target for the night. 

“What-!” Sakuma watched as the figure above turned midair and chased after Fubuki. “Oh shoot, our new ice mage is going to die. Dammit, we only just got him.” 

“They’re moving too fast for us to catch up with,” Endou observed as he watched the two figures clashing in the distant sky. “I can’t even try to intervene, I’m afraid I’d accidentally zap Fubuki…”

“I didn’t think Kingkiller would come so soon,” Kidou narrowed his eyes, trying to track the movement through his monocle. Flares of magic were blinking in and out of existence, letting him feel a bit of relief every time Fubuki’s distinctive silver aura flared. It at least meant that he was still alive. 

“Doesn’t bode well…” Gouenji shifted in place, the two guards unable to chase after Fubuki to help as they had to shelter their kings. The small group could only hope that he came back alive.

\---

Fubuki grit his teeth as he defended himself against the winged assailant, his free hand pulling free thin blades from within his tunic. Coating them with ice, they flew from his hands the moment he knocked aside one of the angel’s dual blades. He had to keep moving, otherwise gravity would take over and plummet him to the ground. The angel pressed in again, thin blades forcing his staff back towards him, the direct pressure causing the plane of ice he was standing on to fracture slightly as he strained to upkeep his own magic. 

“Who are you?!” Fubuki demanded as he flash froze his staff, trying to catch the opponent’s blades in it. The ice simply melted away, proving his greatest fear - this was a fire mage, and an extremely powerful one as well. 

“You’re interesting.” The angel replied with a smile, angling one of their lower wings to nearly slice off Fubuki’s hand. A thick sheet of ice appeared just in time, causing the razor sharp feathers to embed directly into it. 

“I suppose, some call me Kingkiller.” A soft but deeper voice than Fubuki had expected. He realized that this angel was actually male, a confusing prospect when faced with the long hair and layered tunic. Crisp white triangular cloth with red embroidery, the markings were similar to ones he’d seen a long time ago…

_An angel, no, a God!_

“You!” Fubuki gasped in shock upon remembering the visitor from so long ago. As if he was answering the long ago memory, the angel turned directly into the path of moonlight. Soft white light illuminated his face where crimson eyes met teal ones. Caught in the moment, Fubuki lost his grasp on his magic and fell towards the ground. Throwing up a dome of ice around himself, he made it as thick as possible and hoped that any fiery feathers wouldn’t make its way through and cut his throat. Bracing for impact, the entire ball of ice lodged into the earth below, jarring Fubuki within. 

_I’m going to be so bruised if I live,_ was the only thought running through Fubuki’s head as he scraped himself off the side of the already melting ice. He didn’t want to kill this angel, the one that had saved his life twice. Scrambling upwards again, Fubuki glanced up in time to bring up his staff and block off another frontal assault. His own magic reserves were rapidly running low, forcing him to begin pulling from the staff core. The same couldn’t be said for his assailant who simply leaned back into the sky with the air of a cat toying with a defrosting mouse. 

“Wait! I just want to talk!” Fubuki shouted up. He wanted to know more about this mysterious figure. So many years had passed, and he had so many things to say.

“That’s what they always say,” came the distant retort. “Playtime’s over now.” The heat suddenly rose from under him, instantly melting away all the shards of ice that were laying around from before. Sweating as he looked around, flames burst into existence all around him from where feathers had landed earlier. White flames, the highest temperature achievable by a mage. Kingkiller was simply watching, waiting from his aerial vantage point for Fubuki to die. 

_If only I was a water mage!_ Fubuki’s mind scrambled with the contents of the book he had been reading. The flame was rapidly closing in, leaving him with little time to think. Raising his staff, he prepared to release all the energy within at once in an attempt to freeze the flames when a sudden downpour thundered down from above. The flames were partially quenched while the angel was forced back to avoid being hit by lightning. Unexpected penguins shot through the air and attacked Kingkiller above, pulling him further away from Fubuki while shots rang out in the air. Red flames snuck through white ones, snuffing out enough for Gouenji to run in and pull Fubuki out of the rapidly closing circle of fire.

“Sorry, Endou was waiting for you to get out of the air,” Gouenji panted while dragging Fubuki away from the fight. “We were afraid we’d hit you instead of Kingkiller.” 

“Thank you…” stuck in a state of shock, Fubuki reached up and clutched at his chest, feeling the hard gem underneath the folds of his tunic. _Did this gem work more than once?_ He still remembered that day of the unexpected avalanche when out with his family, a force of nature that no ice mage could counter. How Atsuya had cried out to him, ripping off the necklace and shoving it into his hand. How he’d tried to grasp onto those too-small fingers, to hold onto them while tumbling through the snow in order to clasp the gem between the two of them. How the snow had pounded down from all around and separated him from his family, leaving him the only survivor. A single crying young pup clutching a blue gem so tightly that he’d cut his palm and bled onto it into the surrounding white snow. 

“Don’t worry, the rest of us will take care of it. Let’s get you to safety.” Gouenji dragged Fubuki’s arm over his shoulder and steered the disoriented fellow mage back towards the rocky outcrop. The sound of battle and thunder boomed in the distance, but Fubuki could only hear the eccentric beat of his own heart roaring in his ears.

\---

Having narrowly survived an encounter with Kingkiller, the entire group traveled as quickly as possible while planning their route through larger cities and towns on the map. Petty thieves were much easier to deal with than a skilled assassin. A roof over their heads while resting and a densely populated area would hopefully make it harder for the typically long-range attacker to get near them. Fubuki was shaken from the encounter, but was reluctant to discuss it with his traveling companions as he was still sorting out his own emotions. The rest of the group as a whole detested Kingkiller and resolutely wanted him dead. Yet if it came down to it, Fubuki wasn’t sure if he had the resolve to kill the very being that had saved him in the past.

“You alright with the ocean?” Sakuma leaned against the ship railing while keeping his one eye on a very pale Fubuki. They had chartered a boat for themselves with the king’s seal and good ol’ fashioned bribery to bring them across the narrow strait to visit the tropical island off the coast of the desert. The sea captain had described it as a “quick trip” that would only take two days of sailing, something Fubuki had resoundly detested. Wolves weren’t meant to be on water. 

“I’m starting to miss the horses,” Fubuki whispered in response as he eyed the choppy water flying past the hull. They’d left their horses at the closest inn where, after some more monetary lubrication and vague threats of fire by Gouenji, the horses would stay until the group came back to retrieve them. 

“Ha, you’ll get used to it,” the eyepatched guard propped his chin up on his hand, evidently used to the rocking of the boat already as he tapped one foot on the deck. “Once we get this water mage, it should be much easier to fend off Kingkiller.” The title caused a shiver to go up Fubuki’s spine, the past few nights having been spent waking from a dream turned into a nightmare. 

“How many times has he come after the kings?” Fubuki asked, nervously glancing back at the two who were currently trying to make a crab in a bucket hold a knife. 

“Not too many times, although once each I think. I’m not clear about Endou’s end but for Kidou, it was when we were back in our capital at night. He attacked the king’s chambers and nearly killed him if it wasn’t for our own guard captain transforming back into beast form and attacking him. Nearly got him killed in the process but bought us enough time to rouse the rest of our own mages.” Sakuma briefly thought back to that night that had left the majority of their fighting force injured in some way. His own leg twitched at that memory, a still-forming scar visible on it that he’d carry for the rest of his life. 

“What’s he after?” None of this made any sense. Both kingdoms were peaceful and thriving. Killing their rulers would just throw everything into disarray. 

“Who knows, although from what we’ve managed to find out it seems like he’s working for a foreign power. Either way, winged folk aren’t from here, they’re relatively rare. The only population we know of is on a different continent. Although-!” Sakuma reached into his pouch, having remembered something important. “After the last time we met him, I was checking the area after he fled and found this.” 

He pulled out a tightly wrapped oilskin cloth and stepped back from the railing to undo the twine that circled around it. Carefully opening it up, he showed Fubuki the shards of glass that were contained in it. What seemed to have been a slender vial had been shattered in the middle upon impact with a rock. The bottom of the vial that had been retrieved was concave, and still contained drops of liquid within it.

“It seems to be a performance enhancer,” Sakuma explained as he rocked the vial back and forth to allow the sparkling liquid within to move along the clear glass. “Kidou and I took a look at it before we left the last inn. It’s full of crushed minerals that already have magic power imbued in them. Ingesting this _concoction_ allows one to gain a temporary increase in raw magic power, although probably puts immense strain on the user’s body.”

“He did drink that right before attacking us!” Fubuki stared at the broken vial with wide-open eyes. “He moved so fast, I could barely keep up.” 

“Next time, maybe try not to confront an aerial attack specialist in the air,” Sakuma responded with amusement. “Stay on the ground and we’re better able to help.”

“Sorry…” Fubuki blushed as he remembered his initial battle instincts. “I’m just so used to doing that…”

“It’s fine, and we can take this time for you to practice against us. Gouenji can better teach you how to handle a fire mage. I personally think you should just freeze his buttocks off but I’m not a mage so what do I know.” The latter remark caused Fubuki to finally laugh. Sakuma smiled in response, glad to have cheered up the ice mage that had grown withdrawn since the attack. 

“Hey look!” Endou’s voice carried over to them through the rushing wind, causing the two to turn and look over at the king who was waving them over. Glancing at each other, Fubuki and Sakuma stepped carefully over the messy ship deck to entertain the king. 

“What- oh.” Fubuki found himself looking at a very decorated crab in a bucket that was wielding a jeweled knife. The crab waved the knife up at them, an extremely amusing sight, seeing that Sakuma was already doubled over in laughter. 

“This took twenty minutes,” Gouenji dryly remarked as Kidou trembled with mirth on the side. Laughing openly wasn’t fit for a king, but this was just too funny to fully hold back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Character designs for this AU! Aphrodi's clothes are more light - cotton, linen. Fubuki's clothes are more heavy - wool, fur.


	5. high tide

The tropical environment was absolutely fascinating to Fubuki, who had never left the tundra before this. Soft beach sand, coconut trees, such _greenery_ was present all over the island. A thriving fishing village was situated off of the docks where the ship had let them off, promising to stay until they were back with their new prize mage in hand. Everything smelled fishy to Fubuki, who wrinkled his nose as he watched the fisherman unload their day’s catch on the docks. 

“Water mages are extremely prevalent in these types of societies,” Kidou remarked as they made their way through the narrow streets to seek out an inn and some information. “It makes sense, as they rely on the waters as a source of food and protection.” 

“I see…” Fubuki appreciated the impromptu education Kidou always seemed to sprinkle onto him whenever there was a chance. Anything helped at this point, considering he was mostly self taught. Sakuma doubled back and called them over to point out a quaint inn that had whitewashed stone and stucco walls. Blue glazed tile decorated the building in a random arrangement, lending color to the building and causing it to stand out from the rest. 

“The owner says we can have a good rate if we stay more than one night. Since that’s what we were planning to do anyways, I figured we can just stay here.” 

“Sounds great!” Endou clapped his hands again and turned to Gouenji. “Could you scout the area for us?” The fire mage merely nodded then disappeared into the nearest alleyway to familiarize himself with the inn surroundings. Knowledge of local terrain was always useful in case a fight broke out. 

The innkeeper was more than happy to accommodate all five of them, but he only had two rooms available. In the end, Kidou and Sakuma were in one room, while Endou, Gouenji, and Fubuki were in another. Settling in for the night, Endou stretched back onto the bed while Gouenji and Fubuki settled in on the floor. 

“I don’t know if it’s how laid back people are here, or if I don’t come here often enough, but no one’s recognized me so far,” Endou remarked as he stared at the wooden ceiling overhead. He would’ve taken off the circlet to avoid more trouble, but it was a sign of his responsibilities and wasn’t something to easily part with. 

“Makes my job easier,” Gouenji replied, while Fubuki turned back into a wolf and circled the floor a few times before tucking his muzzle under his tail. “Tomorrow we’ll try seeking out that new water mage, have a good night.”

“Sweet dreams, you two!” Endou replied with a smile as Gouenji snuffed out the light without bothering to even look up. 

\---

Morning came, and Fubuki was the first one awake within their room. He tiptoed out intending not to bother anyone, but Gouenji immediately cracked open an eye upon sensing movement. He closed his eyes again upon seeing a wolf nose out through the door. Rounding the corner, Fubuki transformed mid step, just in time to not scare a maid who was heading up the stairs.

“Good morning,” he greeted Kidou and Sakuma who were already eating breakfast downstairs. Kidou moved aside and waved the innkeeper’s wife over to order a plate for Fubuki. Before Fubuki could even finish adjusting his tunic, a heaping plate of seafood clattered onto the wooden table in front of him. 

“Eat up! You’re too pale, boy!” Rosy red cheeks beamed down at him, reminding him of a certain king. She cleaned up a few plates and stray crawfish shells before heading back towards the kitchen. “Let me know if you want more!” She called back before disappearing behind the cheesecloth curtains.

“This...so much!” Stricken, Fubuki wasn’t sure where to start with the sea’s bounty lying in a steaming mountain in front of him. 

“Just go for it, we have a long day ahead and you’ll need the energy, pale boy,” Sakuma teased as he bit into a shrimp, shell and all. “We don’t know where that water mage is and this island isn’t small. Too bad none of us know anyone here.”

“Ya in need of a water mage?” Everyone at the table jumped as the innkeeper seemed to materialize out of nowhere. For a big man, he sure moved quietly. “I know just the guy who knows a few, if you don’t mind waiting.” His fingers rubbed together in a familiar motion which Kidou quickly caught on.

“We don’t mind,” Kidou answered as he fished out a silver coin and slipped it into the waiting hand. “Someone who knows the island well is all we ask.”

“Heard and understood! You boys finish enjoying my wife’s cooking and I’ll get you what you need.” The innkeeper bustled off, disappearing out the door to presumably fetch the promised guide. 

Fubuki stared at the receding figure, then went back to carefully tackling all the new cuisine in front of him. After biting on a whole crawfish and almost cutting his tongue, he ended up following how Kidou ate instead of Sakuma. Sakuma evidently ate like a savage and didn’t mind broken shells in his mouth, despite not being a beastman. 

“Sorry we’re late,” Gouenji apologized when he joined them about half an hour later. Endou appeared shortly afterwards while scratching his stomach and still yawning. The two helped themselves to two plates each while Fubuki watched in fascination, having only managed to work through half his plate. He was hungry, but seafood was hard to deal with. The energy spent on trying to get the bones and shell out was directly equal to the amount he gained eating the hard-earned meat. It wasn’t very worth it. Maybe in wolf form it would be more worth it.

“It’s alright, we’re waiting for a guide,” Kidou assured them as he pulled out a journal. It was a diary of sorts that tracked any new information they came across. The group was currently puzzling over which incidents were related when a fresh-faced brown-haired youth approached their table. 

“Hello? I was told your group was looking for a guide-oh my gosh.” His eyes widened upon seeing Endou who was currently ripping apart a lobster with a familiar jeweled knife. “You-”

Gouenji immediately reached over and dragged him onto the seat next to him while clamping a firm hand over his mouth. The boy’s eyes widened even more and he weakly flailed, causing the ground around them to roil slightly to Fubuki’s alarm.

“Wait, wait, I’m not trying to kill you!” Gouenji hissed into his ear. “We’re just trying to lay low, so just pretend you don’t know who we are, got it?” After some fervent nodding from the youth, the fire mage let go and went back to finishing his food. 

“I’m a huge fan…” The boy whispered as he stared at Endou who finally registered that he was the cause of the earlier commotion. 

“Oh um, thanks?” Endou responded, kindhearted as ever. “What’s your name?” 

“Tachimukai! I’m an earth mage,” came the eager response. 

“An earth mage?” Kidou perked up with interest. “Is there a lot of earthwork around here?” 

“Oh yes, to make space for new houses and building them as well. And supporting the docks and protecting the village from the elements when the weather is bad. There’s plenty for an earth mage to do around here.” Tachimukai sat up straight while replying next to his idol, hoping that his answer was good enough for the king.

“That’s really cool!” Endou interjected, causing Tachimukai to blush in response. “Sounds like you’re a great help to the community.”

“T-thank you sir…” he glanced at Gouenji who was maintaining level eye contact while stabbing a scallop with a knife. Gulping nervously, he glanced around the table at the odd crew. “I heard you’re looking for a good water mage? Is there a particular specialty you’re looking for?” 

“No, just one that’s good with manipulating water in general. A well-rounded one, I suppose,” Kidou answered for the group as he had the most technical magic knowledge despite being a summoner. He likened it to using the main language of magic but in a different dialect. Fubuki hadn’t really understood but figured they were on the same side so it didn’t matter. 

“I think I know just the person, my husband!” Tachimukai smiled at them, then scratched the back of his head and gazed down at the table while blushing slightly. “Not to brag but my husband is one of the best, he’s out fishing right now but should be back shortly since he heads out so early in the morning. Once you’re finished here, I can bring you down to where he docks at to meet him.” 

“Sounds like a plan!” Endou waved for the innkeeper’s wife and ordered another plate for Tachimukai to eat. Conversation shifted to local village happenings and the recent fish harvest. Evidently, the ocean festival had just ended, but blue and white streamers were still visible all over the doorways and shopfronts. Finishing up breakfast, the group followed Tachimukai out onto the dirt streets to head down to the docks. A salty morning breeze blew along through the narrow alleys lined by tall white building walls, causing Fubuki to sneeze a few times. Seagulls flew overhead as they walked, and soon the tops of some boat sails became visible, gently bobbing with the tide. 

Tachimukai pulled ahead as they scrambled down the riprap face that bounded the beach, evidently the work of earth mages like him. A tan man with rioting pink hair held back by a pair of worn goggles on his head was pulling nets out of a small wooden boat that had no sail on it. Standing up while balancing on the bow of the ship, he turned to see Tachimukai running up to him. Throwing the nets to the side, he jumped off the side of the ship and ran over the top of the water surface to plant a kiss on their guide’s lips.

“Honey! You came to see me!” The fisherman then enveloped Tachimukai in a hug. 

“Ahh! Of course love but please agh-” Tachimukai had to fend off another kiss on the lips. “These people are here to see you! Tsunami!” His husband snuck in a kiss on his ear, causing him to blossom into a fine shade of red. Finally relenting from openly showering love for the time being, Tsunami turned and registered the awkward group of five that were either openly staring at him or finding the nearby boats extremely interesting. 

“Oh! Are you Tachimukai’s new friends?” Tsunami smiled and clasped his husband closer to him at the waist. “I don’t think we’ve met before! I’m Tsunami, his husband.” 

“Good to meet you!” Endou stepped forward and held out a hand in greeting. “I’m Endou, this is Kidou, Sakuma, Gouenji, Fubuki.” He gestured at them in turn while Tsunami reached out and gave his extended hand a firm handshake. “We came down with Tachimukai as our guide to meet the husband that he boasted was the best water mage around.” Endou finished this with a friendly wink as Tachimukai gave out a small cry of protest while covering his face. 

“Awww honey!” Tsunami landed a kiss on his husband’s fluffy head of hair then turned to nod at them. “I suppose I’m decent, but if we want to talk could you wait until I unload the ship? The tides will change soon.” 

“Of course, don’t let us hold you up.” 

Hearing that, Tsunami bounded back over to the ship that was lightly bobbing on the water surface. Stepping easily over the water, he began carefully removing the nets that were suspiciously dry and empty. 

“Are there any fish…” Fubuki wondered out loud as the final stretch of net fell onto the neat coil already on the beach. His question was answered when Tsunami turned around and with a sweep of the hand coaxed seawater to rise up and deposit his little ship into a rocky divot within the nearby riprap. With his other hand, he seemed to grasp at thin air for a moment, then a large ball of water rose and separated out of the sea. It spun lazily in the air, but Fubuki saw that it was teeming with live fish that were calmly swimming within as if the ball of water was still in the ocean. The sparkling sphere moved through the air and neatly landed in the divot under the ship, buoying it up and flowing all around to form a miniature pond that was teeming with fresh-caught sea life.

“There!” Tsunami jumped out of the ship and walked over the top of the newly formed saltwater pond to take the net from Tachimukai who had brought it over. The two of them covered the entire pond - ship and all - with the net by tying the ends over some suspiciously conveniently located rocky outcrops. It seemed like the couple had worked together to make this spot to hold onto the fresh catch everyday while dealing with possible theft. 

“Wow,” Kidou muttered as he watched all of this. “Did you see that water control? The thin outside layer was spinning faster than the inner water, letting the fish believe they’re in a stable environment while preventing them from swimming away. I’m pretty sure he’s the one we’re looking for.” 

Tsunami patted his loose shorts, the only clothes he was wearing, then jumped down to walk over to where the group was waiting. 

“Thanks for waiting! What were you looking for a water mage for?”

“We’re actually recruiting talented mages from all around to help fight,” Kidou stepped in to explain. “We heard rumors of a powerful water mage here and came to visit in person to see-”

“Oh! That’s what all this is about,” Tsunami laughed as he realized this was the same as the previous messengers that had come. “I’m sorry, but I’m not interested in battle magic. All I want to do is fish and provide for my husband.” He reached over and patted Tachimukai’s shoulder, giving him a fond look.

“Have you tried battle magic before?” Endou challenged, recognizing that Tsunami would be a valuable asset if they could persuade him. 

“No…?” Tsunami tilted his head, thinking about how he used his magic. Normally he just nudged the ocean to steer his boat, surf, catch fish… He’d never thought about using it in any other way.

“Then why don’t you give it a try? Fubuki, I think it would be good for you to battle this time, too.” Endou called back over his shoulder to the ice mage that was partially zoning out. Jumping at hearing his name suddenly brought up, he grasped his staff tighter in confusion. 

“Me? Why?” 

“Ice versus water would be fun right! Just look at it as practice,” Endou walked back and patted his shoulder. “You also don’t have a lot of battle experience so it would be more fair for Tsunami here. Tsunami, are you willing to try?”

“Hm? Sure! It sounds interesting enough.” Tsunami let go of his husband and strolled over to the middle of the beach. The waves lapped gently behind him, giving off a soft spray of seasalt. “Ready when you are!” 

“Fubuki.” 

Gouenji snapped him out of his panicked thoughts. Gripping his staff, Fubuki stepped further onto the soft sand and noted how it shifted underneath him. An uncertain fighting surface...glancing up he looked around him to check the environment. Rocky sides in a generally secluded beach dock, he’d also have to be careful not to wreck any of the nearby ships. 

“What do I do?” Tsunami called back to the rest of the group that had retreated to watch from a safe distance. 

“Get Fubuki wet!” Endou shouted back, figuring that was as good of a target to aim for as any. 

“Oh, that’s easy,” Tsunami spoke mostly to himself at this point. Leaning back slightly, the small ocean wave that was about to disappear against the sandy shores suddenly swelled in size and shot towards Fubuki. Startled by the sudden change in the water, Fubuki remembered to breathe just in time to sink into his own power. Lifting a hand while keeping the other on his staff, he countered the force of the wave by transforming it into ice. His power only stopped when it met with the shoreline where another wave crashed into it, interrupting his focus. Tsunami gave a low whistle of admiration as he felt a chill wash through his body, the water having been changed into a form he couldn’t control. 

Changing tack, Tsunami pulled more water from his surroundings and aimed them at Fubuki. Different shapes, different variations of attacks, he felt a thrill at trying to outwit his current enemy. The ice mage responded in kind, finding it easy to change the water to ice but not as easy to dodge the resulting hard projectile. Fubuki pulled up sheets of ice, knowing that he couldn’t defend forever. Tsunami wasn’t moving, but that was only because he was unused to battle and thought he’d only be able to fight with magic. If this was Kingkiller, Fubuki would be dead on the end of a thin blade by now. 

But to go on offense….Fubuki hated the memories that came with it. How he wasn’t good enough to know how to use both magic styles. His brother had always been the offensive fighter, the two of them were supposed to be the best duo in the tribe. A dream he’d shared until that fateful day. Water came rushing in all around him, the volume growing more with each strike to the point that he was starting to lose ground. Pooling to the side, the sand started to grow damp around him. He stepped back, then felt his foot sink into wet sand that Tsunami immediately latched onto with his magic. Dragging Fubuki deeper into the sand slurry, Tsunami looked on track to win when Fubuki panicked. Hand instinctively flying to his chest to grasp the hidden jewel, he looked back up with orange eyes and then-

Perfect ice crystals blossomed throughout the air, all aiming for one target. Tsunami threw up a wall of water to defend himself, then had to head back onto the ocean to give enough space for the projectiles to slow down. The seawater he was standing on suddenly crackled, then froze on the surface. Yet the next wave that pounded down cracked the surficial ice and shattered it to pieces. Ice floes scattered left and right while Tsunami pulled water up over the floating ice, trying to give himself a better working surface. A hard feat when ice tended to float on top of water. Before he could better orient himself again, the ice flash froze around him immediately. Glancing around in surprise, Tsunami found that he couldn’t spot Fubuki on the shore anymore.

“Where-” Peering up in a last-ditch effort, he saw a figure running on ice panes through the air towards him, wielding a very dangerous silver staff. 

“Shoot.” Tsunami knew a loss when he saw one and pulled his goggles on, then turned to dive deep into the sea. Manipulating the currents to carry him deeper, he watched from the depths below as a shadow landed on an ice floe above. The end of a staff punctured straight through it and ice blossomed from the bottom of the ice floe, sharp crystals that were seeking him out. Fubuki, however, was now surrounded by water. Tsunami had an advantage here, or so he hoped. Drawing on his own magic, he sent a surge of water towards the ice floe, throwing the entire package - Fubuki included - back onto the shore. Rising up out of the water, he started towards the mage who had ice crystals sloughing off of him. With his back turned, Tsunami didn’t see the wave behind him freeze over, then grow shards of ice ready to slam down and pierce him from above. Only registering the attack because he had lost touch with a chunk of water, Tsunami whirled around but was too slow to react. Diving down onto the beach to try and avoid it, he squeezed his eyes shut but suddenly felt the sand shrink around him. 

“Tsunami!”

_Ah, the voice of my love. Am I dead?_ Slowly opening his eyes, he turned his head to see a solid wall of sandstone had formed behind him, encasing glistening spikes of ice that were dripping with water. Red flames lapped around the impromptu structure, melting away all the remaining ice nearby. Footsteps sounded in the sand next to him, and Tachimukai wrapped him up in a tight embrace. 

“I was so worried,” he whispered, clutching Tsunami close to his chest. Tachimukai had been watching from above with the group. When he realized that Tsunami wouldn’t be able to react in time, he had directly intervened by forcing the sand to merge into a solid block of sandstone to stop the ice. Gouenji had reacted before he could finish encasing the ice by sending out a ring of fire to surround Tsunami and stop any other ice magic. 

“I’m alright, I won’t die that easily,” Tsunami teased his husband who only scrunched his face up and hugged him again. 

“Don’t scare me like that again then,” Tachimukai whispered in response. Tsunami reached up and pet his head, then gave him a kiss on the cheek to calm him down. Sitting back up, he looked over to where Fubuki had half collapsed on the ground, head in his hands. Endou and Gouenji were crouched next to him, checking if he was alright.

“Tsunami’s alright, don’t worry about him. Are you OK?” Endou’s brows furrowed as he gazed at the panting ice mage. The change had been so sudden and striking, just like before, switching rapidly from defense to offense. Each time seemed to take a major toll on Fubuki, though. Fubuki finally removed his hand from his face, then looked up at them with teal eyes, giving a weak smile. 

“I’m alright, sorry for worrying you. I should go and apologize to Tsunami and Tachimukai.” Staggering upright, he slipped slightly on damp sand and Endou reached out to support him. 

“Gouenji was ready to stop you, and I _did_ say battle,” Endou patted Fubuki’s shoulder in a show of comfort. “Let’s go over and talk to them. Kidou and Sakuma are already checking on them.” Their small group headed over to where Kidou was surveying all of Tsunami’s bumps and scrapes. Sakuma stood back, eyeing the damage all around them but also noting that all the ships still gently bobbing on the water were untouched. 

“Tsunami, I-” Fubuki started to apologize as he walked over.

“Oh Fubuki! That was great!” Tsunami reached up a hand from where he sat on the sand, Tachimukai at his side. Fubuki stared at the proffered hand, perplexed. 

“What?” Fubuki asked, unable to make himself take that hand. 

“That was a battle, right? You totally showed me up, even worried my husband here,” Tsunami smiled to his side where Tachimukai just glared at an already-forming bruise on his husband’s elbow. “It was great, I haven’t felt that way before.”

“Felt…?!” _Scared that you were going to die?!_ Fubuki didn’t know how to follow up conversation with this happy-go-lucky personality. Before he could respond properly, Tsunami reached over and grasped his hand, then pulled him down into the sand. 

“Woah!”

“There!” Laughing Tsunami leaned over and ruffled his hair. “Don’t worry too much about it, it was a battle after all. I don’t think you would’ve actually killed me.” Fubuki wasn’t so sure about the last part. He’d been rapidly losing control when Atsuya had taken over. Friend or foe, it hadn’t mattered.

“I’m guessing you enjoyed it?” Endou sat down in the sand as well and looked over at Tsunami. The breeze had died down by now, lending a calming lull to the little cove. 

“You’re right about that,” Tsunami responded with a laugh. “So what was this all supposed to persuade me to do?”

“Join us! We’re currently dealing with two problems on our continent that require the help of talented mages like you.” Endou nodded at Tsunami, then looked over at Tachimukai. “You as well, Tachimukai, your earth magic would be a great help. I’d also hate to separate you from your husband if he chooses to come along.” Gouenji gave a mild snort in the distance, knowing full well that Rococo was currently stuck back in the castle alone, probably doing some neglected taxes.

The seaside couple glanced at each other, then Tsunami smiled across at Endou.

“We’d be happy to help!” 

“So quick! I like that!” Endou responded, clapping his hands together with satisfaction. “Welcome to the team, Tsunami, Tachimukai.” He looked back to see that Tsunami was staring at him with an odd expression on his face. “Is there a problem?” 

“No it’s just that...I never did ask… Who are you?” 

“Tsunami!” Tachimukai’s shocked cry echoed through the little sandy cove while the rest of the group burst out into laughter at Endou’s bemused expression. 


	6. silent stone

With the help of Tsunami’s water magic, their little chartered ship made it back in less than a day across the strait. Retrieving their horses had been easy enough, and with some pointed questions and exchange of coins, two more horses had been procured for Tsunami and Tachimukai. Tachimukai took to horseback riding quite well, but Tsunami looked absolutely green while rocking on the beast’s back. The latter lent some comfort to Fubuki as he had thought nearly everyone took to horseback riding better than he had. They were currently heading southeast across long stretches of farmland towards the main mountain ridge. Their goal was to visit the city of stone near the volcano at the heart of the continent. 

“Sorry about the detour, guys,” Endou apologized again as their horses plodded along the dirt road. “I also have some errands to take care of there and Kidou needs to head back to his kingdom. This way it’s two birds with one stone.” 

“It’s fine!” Tachimukai responded for both him and his husband who was currently sitting stiffly on the back of his horse while doggedly looking into the distance. Probably to avoid throwing up, a feeling Fubuki understood all too well. 

“It’s not everyday you get to travel across the continent.” Tachimukai was excited by all of this, having come from a coastal farming village and moved to the island when he had gotten married. Traveling more than a few nights out from one’s hometown was extremely uncommon, so this was a novel experience in itself. 

“That’s true, and we’re almost there!” Endou sat up straighter on his horse and peered into the distance. “We should see the city soon, it’s built into the side of one of the mountains. For any first-timer it’s an impressive sight.” That tidbit of information spurred Tachimukai on, as like any earth mage, he was eager to see how other mages had manipulated the same materials. Soon enough, the mountain peaks on the horizon grew more defined as the sun set in the sky. 

Soaring peaks that were the result of long-ago plate tectonics formed a sweeping mountain ridge that cut through half of the continent, separating Teikoku from Raimon. Located in the middle was a massive volcano that was currently dormant, but still had active magma flow below. The last eruption was so long ago that the only records were in ancient documents that were at risk of disintegrating upon being touched. The city they were visiting had been built into one of the nearby mountains. Earth mages had formed buildings out of the available material while preserving most of the initial mountain shape. The result was a unique ecosystem that had formed due to the abundance of building material around the city. 

“We should be able to make it through the gates before they close,” Kidou noted as he checked the darkening sky. “That is, if we gallop.”

“That’s fine,” Sakuma replied with a smirk as he looked back at Fubuki and Tsunami who had both grown pale. “I’m sure we can handle it. As a group.” 

“If I fall off, I’m not getting back up,” Tsunami groaned as he leaned down and directly gripped his horse’s mane, squeezing his eyes shut as they broke out into a gallop down the dusty farm road. 

\---

Being a large city, both kings visited here often enough to already have an established inn they liked to stay at. A suite of rooms was quickly prepared for them while they enjoyed a shared meal in a private dining room. 

“Tomorrow, I’ll be going around the city to visit some local lords to follow up on a few new reforms,” Endou informed his traveling companions. “Gouenji will be with me as usual, but the rest of you are free to wander around as you see fit. I’m sure you guys will be able to hold your own if anything happens.” 

“How exciting! A big city…” Tachimukai kept glancing around at the open stone walls that had colorful tapestries pinned over every available surface. He could feel the gentle thrum of the earth everywhere around him, a comforting feeling like being enveloped in a warm blanket. Reaching forward, he broke off some bread and placed it on Tsunami’s plate. 

“Tsunami, eat up, you’re so pale from all the riding we did. Drink some water, too.” 

“Give me a bit more time…” Tsunami responded from where he was lying next to Tachimukai while surrounded by embroidered pillows, trying to calm his mutinous stomach and relieve some of the aches that were plaguing his body. Horseback riding was horrible, he much preferred surfing. Pushing aside the hard pillow under his head, he exchanged it for Tachimukai’s lap. 

“Ah~ now this is much better,” Tsunami closed his eyes and smiled while Tachimukai yelped in protest. 

“I’m sorry about him-” The flustered earth mage began to apologize for his husband’s behavior, but Gouenji simply waved him off.

“Everyone here knows that Endou’s a far worse couple with his fiancé than you two. Don’t worry about it, anything that makes our water mage feel better is fine.” Slicing off a nicely roasted lamb rib, he began to eat while keeping an eye on the open windows. Glass wasn’t common here, and neither were screens as stone itself was an excellent insulator. At most, curtains were provided, but that meant that open chambers like this were difficult to defend at night. 

“We’ll be leaving your group here,” Kidou spoke up, having demolished his own plate of food quite quickly and was taking a break before continuing to eat. “Sakuma and I have to head back to our own kingdom. I’ve neglected enough of my own duties and unfortunately don’t have a Rococo to help me take care of things.” His claim was met with an elbow to the ribs by Endou who had stuffed his mouth full and couldn’t verbally protest in the moment. 

“Genda’s going to be furious that we took so long,” Sakuma lazily remarked as he thought back to their beastman guard captain. “Too bad he can’t do wind magic, otherwise we’d probably be pelted with notices day in and day out as we travel. Who needs to track us down when they could just follow an angry letter.” 

“He’ll live,” Kidou looked over at Sakuma in amusement. “And you’re the one that’s been itching to go home to see him. Hey-!” Sakuma had swiftly stolen the last rib on the table as Kidou reached for it. Casually slicing the meat off, he tossed the bare bone onto Kidou’s plate.

“There, prepped it all for you, my king.” 

“Every time you call me your king, it’s an insult.” Kidou muttered as he made do with soaking up the leftover juices with some bread. The meal was well received after days of being on the road, and soon enough they’d finished all the food and leaned back into the cushions to rest a bit more before retiring for the night. 

“You feeling alright, Fubuki?” Endou called over to the quiet ice mage who had barely spoken since entering the city. He was currently cleaning his staff, checking for any dents or scratches while polishing it carefully. 

“Oh yes, sorry, it’s just... the amount of heat here…” The desert region environment had already taken its toll on him when they’d traveled through it. Moving to a city right next to the volcano only served to exacerbate his exhaustion. The thrum of magma churning near the city pressed against his mind, threatening to melt away all his ice if he came too close. Sleep hadn’t come easily either these past few days, as he was afraid one day he wouldn’t wake up as Shirou anymore. 

“Tsunami’s not doing so well too, it’s not just you,” Tachimukai gave him a sympathetic smile, his husband having only managed to get down some pieces of bread before burrowing back into his lap. 

“We should get both of you some spelled protections,” Kidou remarked as he closed his journal, having finished recording what had happened today. “You all are powerful mages and more in tune with your element than normal. Changes in the environment like this do have an effect on your power whether you notice it or not.”

“I suppose tomorrow at the markets-” Gouenji began to suggest when Tachimukai suddenly scrambled upright next to him, roughly throwing Tsunami to the cushions on the side.

“Honey, what-” Tsunami flailed, trying to push off some cushions that had fallen on his face.

“Something’s wrong with the earth.” 

Whirling around in place, Tachimukai ran to the open stone window, propping his hands on the edges. Taking a deep breath, he focused and tried to sense the source of the hairsbreadth tremors that had alerted him before. Gouenji stood up and then unwound one of the jeweled straps that was on his upper arm. Letting it drop to the side, he breathed in sharply. 

“The magma, it’s moving faster than normal.” Having removed one of the protective jewels he wore, he could better sense the magma below ground that was suddenly streaming towards one direction instead of turning in place. 

“Brace yourself!” Tachimukai shouted as he felt an initial shockwave fly through the earth underneath. Pushing his magic into the stones, he held down the entire wing while a rumble shook through the entire city. Outside, stones broke loose from above, showering into the dwellings below. Unsurprisingly there were many other earth mages in the city who seemed to be doing the same as Tachimukai and bracing their homes. Cushions bounced and a few tapestries fell, but the group as a whole was unharmed. Tachimukai breathed heavily, then sank down to lean against the side of the wall.

“I think that was the worst of it - oh no.” Ripping aside a tapestry that had been covering the wall, he directly sank a hand into it. Fubuki watched with wide-open eyes as the stone seemed to turn to liquid around Tachimukai’s hand and then solidified back around it. The entire building shook again, but their room was held together with the earth mage’s efforts. 

“Something’s causing this, this isn’t natural!” Tachimukai shouted back at them. 

“We can follow the source of the magma underground, I can sense it moving somewhere,” Gouenji grabbed the protective strap that had fallen and looped it around his sword hilt. “Luckily it doesn’t seem to be towards the volcano, but that means someone’s summoning it all. This doesn’t make sense.” 

“I’ll support the building while we get out of here. Once you guys are out, I’ll follow.” The brave earth mage further braced his body against the stone walls as the building shook again. “I think some other earth mages are at the inn so they’ll be able to prevent any more damage. I’ve strengthened the rock in this room as best as I can.” 

“Thanks, Tachimukai! Let’s go! Gouenji, you lead.” Endou called out instructions as everyone packed up as fast as they could and headed out through the narrow stone corridors. Wards against earthquakes flared on the walls as they counteracted the tremors shaking through the ground, but they wouldn’t be able to hold forever. Kidou could see them fading with each shockwave through his monocle. The group spilled out onto the streets below that were already showing new cracks from the recent ground activity. 

“This way.” Gouenji ran forward without bothering to look back. Tsunami glanced behind him to see his husband running down the side of the building, forming stairs out of stone as he went to follow them. The inn would totally like that later if it still stood after all this.

Winding through and dodging cityfolk that sought safety in the open streets, they moved forward together, trusting in Gouenji’s senses. Alleyways zipped past them as Gouenji’s path twisted and turned along the rapidly crowding streets, only to find himself stopped at the towering city walls.

“Shit, no way up,” Gouenji looked around, trying to spot the closest guardroom. 

“Let me try- ach.” Tachimukai, breathless, tried to reach out and touch the wall only to flinch back as if he had been shocked. 

“It’s spelled so random earth mages can’t mess with it.” Kidou observed as he closed his unobstructed eye to see through his monocle. “It’s not something we can undo in minutes.” Unfortunately, the area surrounding the city walls was structured in such a way that there was no easy way to get up top. For good reason, to make it more easily defensible, but extremely frustrating when trying to break out of a city. 

“Wait a moment.” Fubuki’s quiet voice cut through the furiously milling group. At the unfamiliar voice, they all turned to look at him. Hesitating, he gripped his staff tighter, then took a deep breath.

“I have an idea...Tsunami, can you still summon water right now?”

“Hm? Yes, there’s a well over there.” Tsunami pointed at a black mass in the distance. 

“If you pull some water and then shape it into steps, I can freeze it solid and we can climb up. I can’t do it myself, there’s not enough water in the air here...too dry.” 

“That’s brilliant!” Kidou exclaimed, hurrying back to the side of the wall. “None of the spells here should interfere with that as long as you don’t touch the wall itself.” 

Fubuki nodded at Tsunami, who ran closer to the well which erupted with water like a geyser. Instead of flooding the surrounding area, the water snaked over the surface of the street and began winding up, forming perpendicular planes that unfolded upwards against the wall. Fubuki waited until the final step had reached the top of the wall before walking over and touching his staff to the bottom step. Ice crystals blossomed all around from that point, anchoring the staircase into the ground and then creating small support lattices between each step as the ice raced up and solidified it. 

“It’s good now.” Fubuki remarked as he climbed onto the steps. “I’ll go first and make sure it holds all the way up.” 

“Alright!” Endou called after the rapidly moving ice mage. Barely a minute passed before they saw him climb over the top of the wall and wave down at them. Without saying a word, the group clambered up after him, taking care to not slip on the open steps. Fubuki was already leaning over the side of the parapet, squinting around to try and spot the source of all the trouble. 

“Sakuma, can you see anything?” Fubuki called over to the sniper who had flipped his eyepatch up and was scanning the area carefully. He didn’t respond, only running a finger on the side of his gun when he suddenly whipped it up and fired a shot. A distant screech resounded through the air a few seconds later and two winged masses shot out of the trees below. Sakuma simply reloaded and continued firing shots as the creatures swerved. 

“Wyverns!” Kidou stared at the black scaled beasts that had distinct upwardly curved horns. “Those aren’t native to this continent! There’s people riding them!” 

“Probably the ones that are messing with the magma.” Gouenji remarked, hands planted on the stone to try and feel the fire beneath. “It stopped moving when Sakuma fired his shot.” The two wyvern riders seemed to prefer fighting rather than fleeing as they steered their steeds towards the group. 

“Can wyverns breathe fire?!” Tachimukai asked in a panic. 

“No, they’re just small dumb dragons,” Kidou responded while summoning - of course - penguins. Fubuki had yet to see Kidou summon anything when NOT in a panic. Launching into the air, the penguins proved a pretty good hindrance to the larger wyverns who had to either hit them head on or change course to avoid them. 

“Goddamn, they won’t stop.” Sakuma muttered as he fired a few more shots, then turned and ran further down the parapet. The rest followed him while firing their own attacks now that the wyverns were in better range. Barely managing to get out of the way before the two scaled monsters crashed onto the walkway, Fubuki threw up a defensive wall of ice, siphoning off half of the stairs to do so. 

“Whoops, there goes our escape route.” Gouenji noted. 

“I still can’t use the stone here,” Tachimukai lamented as he tried to not touch the walls around him. Feeling incredibly useless, he decided to look around and try to find a way to summon help. The two wyverns had recovered from their crash landing which had thrown back the hoods of the riders. Red hair that blossomed into a bulb framed crowned one figure that was wearing the same flowing black cape decorated with silver embroidery that his companion had. The wyvern on the right moved, giving the group a better view of the second rider who had sweeping white hair that arced up all around their face. 

“It’s them!” Kidou shouted, jumping back to pull out his sword. “The aliens we were talking about!” 

“Aliens? We have names, y’know.” Bulb head leaned forward on his wyvern, resting an arm on a dangerously hooked horn. 

“Who are you? What do you want?!” Endou shouted out from behind Gouenji, pushing his way to the front.

“We literally just said we have names.” His companion responded with a snort. “I’m Gazel, that idiot over there is Burn.” 

“Hey! I don’t like that introduction. We went over this.” Burn flicked his finger and a spark of flame flew out and hit the side of Gazel’s cloak, fizzling out in the process. 

“Well, you didn’t speak fast enough.” Gazel responded as he sat back on his saddle. “Let’s just kill them and get it over with.”

“Hey! You didn’t tell us what you want!” Endou shouted as he was yanked backwards by Gouenji. The fire mage pulled up a wall of flame, just in time to counter a blast of fire that was thrown at them by Burn. 

“Tsunami!” Gouenji yelled out the water mage’s name, calling him to action. Tsunami leaned over the side of the wall, willing up as much water as he could to throw at the enemy fire mage. Gouenji was attempting to redirect all of Burn’s fire to counter the ice mage, who was trying to slow off Tsunami’s siphoning of water by freezing it. Fubuki’s magic immediately jumped in and he began trying to break apart the enemy's ice magic as it formed, something he’d never had to do before. 

“Sorry, give me a moment!” Endou called over to them, clasping his hands together and then shutting his eyes tightly. Kidou and Sakuma took up a defensive stance around him to protect the weather mage while he summoned up whatever he could. 

“There!” Tsunami gave out a whoop as he doused the fire mage in water, encircling him in a swirling ball of liquid. Gazel looked over in alarm, then stuck his hand in and forcibly froze half of it while fighting against the internal current. 

“Aw shit they can do that?” Tsunami complained as Gazel pulled Burn’s limp body onto his own wyvern. The fire mage’s wyvern was done for, having been suffocated by the water vortex. Rain suddenly began pouring from above and then a bolt of lightning struck, charring the body of the fallen wyvern as the ice mage’s wyvern took off. Sensing a loss, Gazel hesitated in the air, then roughly pulled the reins and steered his wyvern around to rapidly fly off

“Gah! Too late huh,” Endou stood back up, finally releasing his palms from each other. “The closest storm clouds were so far, it took a bit of work to get them here. Sorry about that.” 

“Endou!” A familiar voice caused them all to turn around and see Tachimukai running towards them with a group of guards in tow. “I found the closest guard and got reinforcements! Oh!” He slowed to a halt and stared at the smoldering mess that was behind the bedraggled group of fighters. 

“Is everyone still alive?” He asked, hurrying forward while sheathing his sword. 

“Yes honey we’re all good!” Tsunami’s peppy voice responded as he waved a tired hand. 

“King Endou?!” The guard captain stepped forward in shock, having been ready to administer some harsh words on the state of the now partially-ruined wall. Recognizing the circlet-crowned king he immediately saluted. “We apologize for coming so late, your colleague came to find us as we were readying to come to the source of the attack.” 

“Don’t worry about it,” Endou easily responded while stepping forward to clasp the captain’s shoulder. “I’m sorry to have to leave it up to you guys to clean this up. Could you direct us to the nearest healer? I think my group has some patching up to do.” 

“Oh yes of course, this way please.” The captain turned to lead them to their own healer, wondering what had happened before he had arrived. The group pulled themselves together, then headed down to check on some minor scrapes and scratches.

“I’m going to stay here with Sakuma for a bit longer,” Kidou called over to them. “I want to investigate this wyvern corpse.”

“Be careful!” Endou yelled back a warning. “We don’t know if there’s more of them!” 

“The magma isn’t moving anymore, so I don’t think so.” Gouenji noted, glancing over at Tachimukai to see what the earth mage felt.

“Nothing on my end,” he remarked, “but I can’t tell if it’s because of the spells on the wall or not.”

“We’ll figure this out tomorrow, for now let’s just get checked up and hope that inn is still standing. I still have to fix all the weather I messed up,” Endou complained, rubbing his cheeks to warm himself up from the cold night air that was piercing through him now that the adrenaline rush of battle was over. Rain lightly fell over the city of stone as the group split and headed off, having finished a long night. 


	7. midnight

“So much water!” Tsunami happily exclaimed as he finally perked up from the saddle upon seeing the castle moat appear before them. After bidding farewell to Kidou and Sakuma, the group had split and made their way back to the Raimon capital. Kidou had promised to send over what information he could find after picking at some wyvern parts, but for now the two groups would investigate separately. 

“Hey, don’t go jumping in there,” Gouenji reached over and roughly grabbed the back of Tsunami’s hood. “The bottom is spelled so idiots like you won’t try to break in through the water.”

“Honey, he called me an idiot,” the petulant water mage whined to his husband who was gazing around the bustling city with fascinated eyes. 

“I love you, but sometimes you deserve it,” Tachimukai absentmindedly replied. Tsunami sat back to pout for a moment before leaning forward again, causing his horse to toss her head in annoyance. 

“Do you happen to have a pool in the castle?” 

“What type of building do you think a castle is?” Endou replied with a hearty laugh. “We have plenty of wells and some space if you want to make a pool. Between you and Tachimukai I’m sure you can make it happen.” 

“Endou…” Gouenji wasn’t sure about how Rococo would take this new development, but figured this was out of his jurisdiction at this point. Turning to check on the one quiet member of the group, he watched as Fubuki reached up and wearily rubbed at his eyes. Eyebags stretched slightly under them and he had his hood up to avoid the sun for too long. At this point it wasn’t a matter of the environment that was dragging the ice mage down, it was something else. 

“Oh! Looks like they’ve spotted us already,” Endou waved over at some guards who had come out of the bridge guardpost to signal down to him. “That’s great, I can’t wait to take an actual bath.” 

“I’m sure Rococo can’t wait for that either,” Gouenji muttered as the group spurred their horses forward, eager to get some rest after an eventful trip. After crossing the bridge, helpful castle servants took over to help clean them up and sort their belongings into the right areas. A few hours later, the entire group found themselves back in the visiting chambers again but now fully refreshed. 

“I think your baths count as a pool, Endou,” Tsunami remarked as he crushed Tachimukai against the side of their chair. It was supposed to be a chair for one person, but Tsunami had managed to squeeze himself in without breaking anything. 

“Glad to hear that there won’t be random infrastructure improvements,” a new voice carried through the room as the door opened, one that Fubuki had heard once before. The group turned to see Rococo enter, eyes twinkling as he shut the door again behind him. 

“Rococo!” Endou leapt up from his chair and went over to embrace his fiancé. A very intense kiss later that had Tachimukai blushing and Tsunami looking with the calculated interest of someone who’d try that very soon, the couple went to sit down together on the nearby chaise. 

“What’s been happening in the capital?” Gouenji asked, seeing that these two lovebirds weren’t going to get anywhere intellectual anytime soon. What with them making moon eyes at each other.

“Nothing unusual, just normal day to day stuff. Same lords complaining, same taxes that need to be collected. The administrative end is no different, but Touko might have some news. I haven’t asked her about any of it lately since she’s been busy.” Rococo leaned against his fiancé, thinking over what had happened during the past month. Time always passed quickly when moving paperwork around, but he’d missed Endou more than usual. That definitely wasn’t information that Gouenji was asking for though. 

“How about your trip? I see that you came back with some new mages.” Rococo gestured at Tsunami and Tachimukai, the latter who immediately scrambled up from their seat to give a polite bow. 

“I’m Tachimukai, an earth mage. This is my husband Tsunami-” he roughly grabbed his husband’s arm and dragged him upright to force into a polite bow. “-a water mage.” 

“Ow! Hi…” Tsunami awkwardly looked over at the unfamiliar dark-skinned man wearing a chain circlet on his head that had small golden disks hanging from it.

“Tachimukai, is he also royalty?” he whispered to his husband, hoping that he was quiet enough that no one else would hear it. 

“I’m Rococo, Endou’s fiancé.” Evidently he’d heard it. “I’m from a foreign continent but I spend my time here helping Endou run the kingdom.” Rococo smiled affectionately at his fiancé who often had to travel out of the capital to work weather magic. Even without the current problems they were facing, Endou normally didn’t spend too much time at home much to both of their regrets. Turning his attention to the previously recruited ice mage, he noticed how much more tired the tundra native seemed.

“Fubuki, how did you find the trip?” 

“Huh? Oh um. It was interesting, a little hot.” Fubuki replied over Tsunami’s whispers of _Can I sit back down yet?_ in the background. 

“Ah right, you mages have a tough time with different environments huh.” Rococo had heard of that before, and also why Gouenji had grumbled so much upon having to go to the tundra. He’d packed a bunch of matches before setting out on that trip. Something about there not being enough heat in the surroundings to manipulate.

“Yeah! We’re going to get them some protections made,” Endou tacked onto the conversation. “After that alien attack I think you guys need it.” 

“WHAT ATTACK?” Rococo whirled around in his chair, staring at Endou in shock. “You didn’t tell me there was an attack. You didn’t even send a letter!”

“Rococo! I literally just got back!” Endou protested, “And we were heading back faster than a letter would’ve gotten to you. We set out the day after the attack happened!” 

“You…” Rococo pulled off Endou’s glove and inspected his rough hands, tracing a finger on the minor scars from before when his magic had backfired. He breathed a sigh of relief upon finding no new scars. 

“Sorry Rococo, I don’t mean to worry you,” Endou leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek, trying to calm his fiancé down. “My group here is reliable and I trust them to have my back if anything happens.”

“I know you can hold your own, too…” Rococo rested his hand over Endou’s, resolving to wrangle out any information he could from the other mages after this. Endou would definitely gloss over any details such as “almost dying” if he asked about it. 

“Did someone say _attack_?” Touko smiled as she slipped into the room, not bothering to bang open the door this time. “None of you are leaving this room until you all give me a full report, except you Rococo, you can leave.”

“What! I want to hear, too…” Rococo complained as the rest of the room groaned. There was no getting around Touko, though, and eventually meals had to be brought up since she wouldn’t stop asking questions. 

“So! I’m pretty sure these natural disasters that we’ve been getting reports about are directly related to these aliens.” Touko remarked as she tapped the map in front of her. They had borrowed a chess set from the side and placed pawns at all the locations natural disasters had been reported. Upon being asked why she didn’t just mark it on the map, Tsunami got a long lecture about how expensive maps were to obtain. The pawns were arranged in clusters along the mountain ridge, with the older reports being farther away from the volcano. The latest report was directly from Endou and was only four days' ride out from the volcano. 

“I don’t like the look of this,” Gouenji muttered as he surveyed the smattering of chess pawns. It had sounded random at first, but after arranging the information together like this the earthquakes didn’t seem natural at all. “I think most of these _are_ the alien’s doing.”

“I’ll send out some more earth and fire mage teams to go check up on these areas and station a few where we think might be a likely next target.” Touko announced as she sat back in her chair. Looking around the room, she noticed the exhaustion weighing on the group as a whole. They’d gone through a long day of travel to make it back in the afternoon and hadn’t had time to decompress yet thanks to...herself. 

“Whoops. I got a bit too caught up in getting information.” She swept aside the chess pieces and rolled up the map. “You guys get some rest, I’ll go over this in more detail and let you guys know in a few days.”

“Thaaaaaank youuuu,” Tsunami called after her, earning a firm hand clamping down on his mouth courtesy of his husband. 

“The servants will show you to your rooms, the rest of us all know where to go.” Endou peeled himself off of the chaise and stretched. “Let’s get a good night’s rest and reconvene tomorrow, I’m sure we all can’t wait to sleep in a proper bed!”

“If Touko had gone on any longer I would’ve just climbed out the window,” Gouenji grumbled while opening the door for the rest of them. The group filed out, eager to sleep without worrying about overnight attacks for once.

\---

Fubuki couldn’t sleep. The moon was high in the still night air again, full and bright and reminding him of a certain recent night. Reaching towards his neck, he clasped the cold jewel that had become such a familiar part of himself. He wanted to see that angel again, to ask questions that would hopefully set his heart at ease. Turning his head to look out the window, he sighed and gave up on trying to force himself asleep. Pulling on the now-familiar cape, he grabbed his staff and then climbed out the window. 

Trails of frost formed behind him as he walked, the moisture in the air lightly freezing his soles to the roof tiles to prevent him from falling off. He sat down on the ridge tile at the top and gazed out at the night sky. Clouds gently wafted over the moon, blotting out the stars behind them. Closing his eyes, he let his mind wander and sink into the well of his power, testing how well he could move pure water particles. Fubuki could sense them, even touch them with his power, but in order to do anything with them he’d have to change them to ice. 

Losing himself in the process, his mind wandered to the past again. The recent chain of attacks had only proven to damage his already negative self-esteem.

_Useless, helpless, unreliable._

Reaching up to clutch at the small jewel, Fubuki hated how unhelpful he had been so far. He hadn’t realized how much a change in environment would affect his magic, and even then by defaulting to defensive magic he wasn’t contributing much in a fight. If only Atsuya was the one that had lived…

_But I can still be the one that lived._

Fubuki’s eyes snapped open, hand ripping away from his chest. 

“No, I’m Shirou.” He whispered to himself, but speaking one’s true name did nothing to oneself. Resting his head in his hands, Fubuki tried to shut out the sounds coming from within him.

_I’m Shirou!_

Wind rustled past as another cloud passed overhead and cast its shadow over him.

_Are you sure? Or am I Atsuya?_

“Stop…” the distressed ice mage cried out into the night air, unable to make sense of his own self. The wind shifted, and a new scent came with it. The scent of smoldering feathers. 

Teal eyes snapping open, he lifted his staff then turned slightly to see what the interruption was. The moonlight was gone as he squinted into the dark surroundings. As the cloud moved on, pushed by the winds, light cascaded down again and he saw what he thought was a large set of…wings? 

“Oh, it’s you again.” 

Fubuki immediately forced an entire wall of ice to manifest between him and the speaker. The roof was luckily well-supported and only groaned slightly with the sudden increase of mass. 

“You!”

Kingkiller stood on the other side of the clear crystal slab, tilting his head to observe him with an easy smile on his face. His wings lazily turned in the air, testing the air currents as the night wind tugged at long golden locks. 

“The same greeting as before? I thought you were smarter than that.” Kingkiller raised his hands to show that they were empty, his twin blades resting on his hips. “No need to bare your fangs at me, little wolf, didn’t you say you wanted to talk? Or bark?” A smirk followed the last sentence, a simple taunt to test the waters. 

“What are you here for?” Fubuki didn’t trust him at all, despite desperately wanting to do so. Shifting slightly so he was ready to defend at any moment, he immediately twitched when the deadly angel lifted a hand to their chin. 

“Is that your first question? I’m feeling nice tonight, I’ll allow you three questions.” Tapping fingers on his chin, that thin smile appeared again, captivating the beastman. “I only came to take a look around, only to find a curious creature that looked ready to throw themselves off the roof.” Red eyes pierced across the night directly into Fubuki’s heart. 

“Why are you trying to kill Endou? He’s a good king and the kingdom loves him!” Fubuki had only known the king for a few months now but greatly respected him. If the kingdom lost Endou...he didn’t want to think about the devastation that would cause. The wings stopped turning in the air, pinions shifting over one another to form different patterns. 

“Power? Who knows. I have no personal grudge against him.” A mysterious smile, then the wings began turning in the air again. Fubuki got the distinct impression that time was running out.

“That’s not an answer,” he snarled. Just a few more questions, one more wasn’t enough, but if he played his cards right…

“Too bad, beggars can’t be choosers. Actually I’m taking an interest in you. What’s your name?” The wings were stiff now, arcing upwards and framing the speaker, yet the night wind only picked up in ferocity. Fubuki hesitated, watching that golden hair whip back and forth over the light feathers. 

“You haven’t let me ask my last question yet.”

“I won’t answer until you tell me your name.” 

“Then a name for a name. An answer for a question.” Fubuki laid down the deal, knowing that if the angel changed his mind at any moment he’d be dead.

“A name for a name huh…” a murmur that carried across the buffer of ice to him. “I haven’t heard that in a long time.” 

“I’m Fubuki. Why did you save my life twice before?” _What had changed you? What are you now?_ So many more questions that he wanted to ask but the limit was up. 

Kingkiller gazed at him across the rooftop, then leaned back, falling off the side of the roof. 

“Hey!” Fubuki shouted as he rushed to the side, instinct causing him to search for a body below only to feel air rush upwards past his face. Feet slipping in surprise at the sudden wind, he scrambled to not fall off the roof edge. A feather flew through the air and stabbed his cape to the roof tiles, pinning him down. 

“Learn some self preservation, Fubuki.” The lilting voice calling his name caused a shiver up his spine. Wings beat as the angel swung in the sky, letting the air currents nudge him this way and that. “Oh? Not your true name, huh. Well, my name is Aphrodi. Kingkiller is such a garish name, don’t you think? And as for saving you? You can count that as three times now.” 

With that, Aphrodi turned in the air and flew off, leaving Fubuki pinned to the side of the roof with a slowly melting slab of ice behind him. Shaking, he reformed steps underneath him then carefully pulled out the sharp feather and crawled back up to the roof ridge. Staring at the single white feather in his hands, he resolved to keep quiet about tonight’s encounter. He leaned back to look up at the moon again, then realized something important.

“That’s not the name I remember…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fubuki: depressed
> 
>   
> 
> 
> Aphrodi: OH? I SEE A BOY?


	8. flight

Aphrodi lounged against one of the many towering trees in the forest surrounding the capital. Sunlight filtered down from above, having rudely woken him up from his post-scare-an-ice-mage nap. He’d only been sent out for reconnaissance that night under the Commander’s orders, but the pitiful rooftop sight had piqued his interest and he’d snuck over to play. 

_It’s not like anyone will know_ , Aphrodi thought as he gazed down at some squirrels frolicking underneath him. None the wiser that a predator was perched above them, reminding him of a certain naive little ice mage. 

“A name for a name,” the angel mused aloud to himself, thinking back to the last time he’d heard that. So long ago, in the heart of the tundra. That had only been a little test back then, for him to learn how to use his fire magic in a place with nearly zero heat. Leaning back to begin preening his feathers, he wondered how those little wolf pups were doing. The only ones that knew his true name.

Halfway through his preening session, a dark brown bird with distinct white wing patches landed on a branch next to his head. The two eyed each other, then Aphrodi gave a sigh and fished out a pendant from his pocket. Tapping the pendant against the bird’s chest, a voice came out crisp and clear despite the distance from the actual speaker.

“Aphrodi. Report.” 

“Nothing much has changed. Endou’s got new water and earth mages, but they both aren’t battle types. They just came back from the city near the volcano after being attacked by the aliens there. Countering the aliens seems to be their current worry.” He rolled his eyes, glad that the magic stone only transmitted his voice and nothing else. Sometimes when he felt feisty he’d flip a middle finger but the skua usually took it as a challenge to try and bite it. Not very worth it.

“You’ve played around long enough. Take care of Endou, your time is up.” A crackle was beginning to creep into the transmission, enough for Aphrodi to know that the interrogation would be over soon. 

“How soon?” Aphrodi asked, thinking back to that lonely ice mage and his questions. 

_What am I doing here anyways? What DID I want?_

It had been a while since he’d been back at his home continent - so foreign to him by now. Losing sight of his desires in life, he was blindly chasing whatever duties were doled out to him. Was this really himself? 

“Tonight.” The magic fizzled out, and a peeved skua leaned forward to try and snap at his wrist. Flicking a feather out, the white dart found its target and struck the bird down. A thump sounded from the forest floor as he leaned back to finish preening. He’d go down and clean it up later. Roasting it wouldn’t even make for a good dinner, as it was so poisoned with the Commander’s magic he’d just feel sick afterwards. 

“Tonight, huh.”

He had a bit of prep to do. 

\---

“Still in the library, Fubuki?” Tachimukai’s voice pulled him out of the pages in front of him. Blinking rapidly as he registered where he was again, Fubuki pawed around and found the discarded bookmark at his side. Carefully inserting it between pages, he closed the worn book on foreign continent species and looked up at the smiling earth mage.

“Tachimukai, sorry, did you say something before that?” He hadn’t really been paying attention to things lately, having had too much on his mind. Tidying up the papers around him, he waved away Tachimukai’s help. Fubuki didn’t really want others to know that he was trying to figure out winged folk right now. If they were all so...fickle like Aphrodi. 

“No, I was only calling out to you. It’s dinnertime soon and Touko had some information for us so she wanted us to gather in the private dining room. Where that is I have no idea, but I came to get you since I was nearby.” 

“Dinner does sound nice,” Fubuki replied with a smile as he deposited the books he was reading onto a trolley on the side. Placing a stone marker over them, he rolled up the scattered papers on the table and inserted them into an oilcloth container. “Let’s ask a nearby servant, I’m sure they’ll know.” 

Sure enough, the servant gave them easy-to-follow directions. Waving off an offer to be led there, the two mages made their way through the arching stone hallways. Tapestries stretched along the walls depicting the history of their kingdom, illuminated by warm firelight from torches placed at regular intervals. Fubuki gazed up at the massive artworks, noting that his distant tundra lands were depicted in places as a fuzzy patch of white. 

“Tachimukai…”

“Yes?” The earth mage looked over curiously, having only really spoken with Fubuki only when the occasion called for it. Unbeknownst to Fubuki himself, the ice mage had the air of someone that wasn’t to be lightly bothered.

“Your true name, does anyone know it?” The question echoed off of the tall walls, the thick tapestries absorbing the lingering sounds. Tachimukai had stopped walking at this unexpected question, staring at Fubuki with wide eyes.

“I…” he faltered, unable to form the proper words to work around this question. 

“Oh.” Fubuki realized the implication of what he had asked. “I’m sorry Tachimukai, I don’t want to know your true name. I was just wondering...to have someone alive who knows your true name. What it must be like.” 

Tachimukai’s eyes softened as he gazed upon the quiet figure standing alone in the hallway. He didn’t know much about Fubuki’s past but had guessed that it was nothing heartwarming. 

“Yes, one person knows it: Tsunami. And I know his. A name for a name after all,” Tachimukai laughed as he remembered their wedding vows. How they had whispered their true name to each other alone on their wedding night. How wonderful it had been, to have something between the two of them that no one else had. 

“And you only know this because you told each other right?” Fubuki asked, worry gripping his heart. He wasn’t sure if Aphrodi remembered his, and if he would be able to tell. 

“Yeah? It’s not like I feel any different unless he calls my true name.” Tachimukai thought back to the few times it had happened. There wasn’t normally a use for calling one’s true name, as it only served to reduce someone to their magic-less self for a bit. It only helped if you were in a fight, which he’d never been in with Tsunami.

“I see…” Fubuki began walking along again, not looking at Tachimukai. His friend followed along, wondering what had brought this question about.

\---

Touko was already waiting for them in the dining room, papers scattered over half the mahogany dining table. Elegant windows spanned along two sides of the room as they were now located at a corner of the castle. The windows functioned as doors that opened up to a patio overlooking a garden below. Gouenji was, predictably, next to the windows and keeping an eye on the darkening gardens. Tsunami was already in the room and observing the multiple small bays detailed next to the capital on the large map. 

“What’s this beach like?” Tsunami asked as he tapped one within a day’s ride. 

“It’s a stretch of sheer cliffs.” Touko replied without even looking up. She was still pulling out some other diagrams from a stuffed folder. 

“Hey, you didn’t even look! Oh, honey!” The deprived surfer brightened immediately as he saw his husband come in through the doors. “Fubuki, too! Now all we’re missing are Endou and Rococo.”

“Is Rococo going to come along with us this time?” Fubuki asked, curious as to what the non-mage’s specialty was. He surmised that this was a briefing meeting before they all capered off again to stop another attack or find a new mage. 

“Most likely not. He does best in close combat and is an absolute beast with the sword, but he wouldn’t stand a chance against the mages we’re dealing with.” Gouenji remarked. Rococo unfortunately didn’t have much magic knowledge and wouldn’t be as much help as Kidou or Sakuma. Looking back out the windows again, he registered two familiar figures making their way over to the dining room through the gardens below. Opening the window doors, he walked out to greet his king. 

“Endou, how are you-” he was rudely interrupted by a rain of feathers. Fire arced up all around where the feathers landed, white hot flames that incinerated everything it touched. Rococo had thrown himself over Endou, pulling his cape around both of them. The spells on the thick fabric held and deflected off the feathers but the flames that had burst into a circle around them threatened to eat away at the trapped couple. 

“What’s happening?!” Tsunami asked as he ran out onto the balcony with the rest of the group. “Aw man, more fire. Let me get on that!”

Moving to protect them, Tachimukai hopped over the side of the railing to be closer to the earth. Pressing himself up against the castle walls, he forced the ground underneath Endou to buckle upwards and push them away from the fire. 

“Damn, we need our own Sakuma,” Gouenji muttered while trying to put out the fires with his own magic. No one could spot the assailant right now, but everyone knew the target: Endou. 

Fubuki was frozen in place on the patio entrance. Fire, so much fire, the exact element he was weak to.

_Useless._

Water careened over the side of the wall and washed over the entire garden, smothering out the fires in the process. Tsunami was in his element, pulling water from the moat and directing it every which way. Gouenji took the window of opportunity to jump off the patio and run to his king’s side, pulling out his sword in the process.

“Gouenji! I’m already working on it.” Endou replied from underneath Rococo’s cape. Small sparks could be seen within as he worked on drawing the weather to him. 

“Great.” The guard captain observed the still air above, trying to guess where the next attack would come from. The ground was damp now with a solid inch of water ponding at the surface courtesy of Tsunami. It would be difficult to set fire to everything again unless-

Scorching heat filled the air, as Kingkiller evidently decided to just dry everything out through brute force. 

“How much power does he have?!” Gouenji couldn’t believe the sheer amount of energy being expended right now to evaporate all the water around them. Alarmed, Tsunami brought in more water as Tachimukai hurried over and built a defensive wall around his husband. Turning to do the same for his king, his attention was interrupted by a clash of steel that rang through the air.

Fubuki had scented out the familiar scorched feather smell that had only swelled when the heat had turned up in the area. Taking advantage of the sudden increase of water in the air, he’d jumped up on planes of rapidly formed ice to flush out their attacker.

Aphrodi had been too smart, though, and easily parried away his staff with a slim golden blade. 

“Fubuki, was it? I don’t have a particular problem with you, so if you’d kindly leave I won’t have to kill you.” His clear voice carried through the air as he lifted upwards, circling above the small ice mage. 

“What do you want!? You said it’s not a personal grudge last time!” Fubuki shot a blast of frost up, trying to catch one of the fluttering white wings, but missed as Aphrodi turned in midair. 

“You’re really full of questions, aren’t you,” came an amused response, yet the question revived several thoughts of his that had been discarded in his mind. “But if you insist on getting in my way I’ll have to take care of you first.” Honing in on his new target, Aphrodi was distinctly aware that the more time he spent dealing with Fubuki, the more annoying the rest of the group would become. Unfortunately, Fubuki was also the only one right now that could deal with him in aerial combat, so he had to finish this now. 

Fubuki found himself fighting against a flurry of feathers and fire that nipped at every part of his body. Backed against the side of the castle, overwhelming heat pressed in on all sides.

_I can’t hide, I can’t run._

His palms slipped on the silver staff handle, then a particularly brutal shot of fire destroyed one of the walls of ice he’d created earlier. The melting ice screamed soundlessly in his mind as he reached up to clutch at his chest. Aphrodi turned to see the ice mage doubled over on the windowsill. Pulling out his second blade, he angled his wings and flew downwards at the quivering figure. 

The entire temperature in the garden dropping was the first sign that something had changed. All the water Tsunami had pulled in flash froze, and then groaned as cracks laced through the surface, splitting the giant slab into even pieces. Aphrodi stopped mid-flight, surveying the changes around him. Red eyes looked down and were met by glowing orange eyes.

“What-!” 

The ice mage hurtled up into the sky, ice rapidly forming all around him. The sudden drop in temperature was making it harder for him to move, despite the several layers of protections he had on. Even if it didn’t affect his magic, it affected his body. Parrying off the aggressive assault, Aphrodi was alarmed by the sudden change in fighting style. Ice was forming faster than he could counter, forcing him back in the air. Pulling back to try and put some distance between them, he found his back slamming into a pane of ice that fell with him to the ground below. 

Lodging his blade tip across his face into the ice behind him, he peeled his back off the cold surface before it could grow onto more than a few of his feathers. He winced while trying to pull himself forward before being slammed back down against the ice, as a feral staff-wielding ice mage drew a crescent scythe downwards onto him. Barely countering the downwards force with his left blade, Aphrodi’s right blade darted out and sliced forward. The golden blade arced through the air, aiming straight towards Fubuki’s chest. Noticing it at the last minute, Fubuki pulled back, but not before the tip of the blade cut through the front of his capelet and ripped through the tunic underneath. Catching on the jewel necklace underneath, Aphrodi twisted his wrist trying to bring the blade back and accidentally fished out a sparkling blue gem. 

Crystal clear, turning in the sky, reflecting in the growing moonlight. 

Flecks of shattered blue danced across the two of their faces. Fubuki’s orange eyes wide as his cape fluttered aside and fell to the ground. Aphrodi’s mind raced with distant memories of recognition at this object, drawing up one that had been recalled more and more recently.

_“A name for a name!”_

Putting his entire force into this dance now, Aphrodi burst into flames and disengaged himself from Fubuki. The jig was up as memories of small wolf cubs dashed in front of his eyes. Only a few minutes had passed since Fubuki had flushed him out, barely enough for the rest of the group to gather themselves. Coupled with the fact that all their water had turned into ice, he could finish this off relatively quickly. 

_“That was only one name!”_

 _Which one was this one? What had happened to the two cubs?_ The pesky spiky-haired fire mage parried his attacks, but in the end he was still fighting fire with fire. Aphrodi was the more powerful of the two and would win out. No storm clouds could be seen anywhere either, Endou was still lagging in his magic. Staying in the air to avoid the earth mage, his only real problem was Rococo who was armed to the teeth, and Tsunami who could counter his fire. 

A forceful wash of ice barreled into him from the side. Evidently, Fubuki wasn’t going to just quit. With his ability to just form planes in the air, things were going to get annoying fast. Flying higher, Aphrodi shook loose his feathers and sheathed a blade. Lifting his hand up above his head, he snapped his fingers in the night air. Blossoming into white fire, the feathers increased in intensity, turning into white-hot lances raining down below. 

Fubuki had been running up in the air after Aphrodi and was the first to be struck by one of the lances, catching his calf. Tumbling through the air, exhaustion seeped through his body from the sudden wound. Blood was spreading and he had no energy to stop himself from a straight fall. Panicking, he tried to right himself in the air, when the branches of a pine tree roughly caught him. Scrambling to grab hold of the rough bark, he crawled up to see that Tsunami had been knocked unconscious in this blow. The earth embankment Tachimukai had made for him was destroyed by the rain of fire. Luckily, his husband was currently dragging him to safety, but now they had no water mage. 

The core group wasn’t doing so well either. Gouenji was also down, alive or not he wasn’t sure, but this meant that only Rococo and Endou were left in fighting condition. Propping up an arm and turning to look up at the sky, he saw Aphrodi raising his arm again in the air fingers closing on each other-

“TERUMI!” 

Red eyes whipped in his direction and Fubuki felt lancing pain blossom from his chest. Looking down in shock, he saw the blue jewel crack in half, the shards having dug into his bare skin. 

“What-” 

Fire lanced down again at the group below and he twisted to the side as a golden blade whistled through the air and stabbed into the wood next to him. 

The fire hadn’t stopped, Fubuki could feel the heat radiating off of the deadly angel now but-

“The jewel,” he gasped, parrying aside the second blade with a dagger he pulled out from his belt. “The protective jewel-”

“Fool.” Aphrodi sneered as he let flame arc down along the edge of his own blade. “I said it was for protection but I didn’t say who’s.” 

A true name, protections, jewels - gazing at the figure he’d worshipped as a guardian angel, the flickering flames threw shadows back against the brilliant white wings from his memory turning them dark. 

Lies, all of them lies.

The jewel had done nothing for him. Hadn’t even saved him, his life having been spared only by luck in that avalanche.

“I thought you were my guardian angel!” Fubuki screamed as his full reserve of power exploded around him. Filled with anguish, he dove towards the betrayer ready to kill. Aphrodi darted back, alarmed by the ferocity and depth of power that the ice mage still had on him. Which one _was_ this one?! The pure strength of offense in the ice magic...burning deep into his own magic, he countered with white fire. There was only one way to find out, and the one he had given the jewel to was-

“Atsuya!” 

Nothing changed, the ice only growing with each passing second, but teal eyes stared across the branches at him. Teal eyes that realized what this lack of influence his dead brother’s true name had on him. Lunging forward with his staff, Fubuki pulled up ice in front of him in defense but attacked at the same time. Perfectly symmetrical crystals blossomed in both directions, forming faster than the heat could melt them. 

_That wasn’t right, the one with the offensive abilities was Atsuya. But the other one?!_ Aphrodi didn’t have any other protections on him and he saw what Fubuki was going to do as the ice mage opened his mouth again.

“TERUMI!”

“SHIROU!”

Quiet slammed down onto both of them as their magic was immediately extinguished. Aphrodi couldn’t feel heat anymore, every trace of his magic had been snuffed out in one swift cry. An unfamiliar feeling, one he’d never felt before, of being helpless with only his physical abilities. Fubuki found it strange to see water trickling all around him, yet being unable to nudge them into crystal form. His magical connection with the world was severed, and so was his ability to retain his human form. 

The two of them stared at each other, teal eyes meeting red ones. A large grey wolf facing a fallen angel. Aphrodi was rudely ripped out of the moment by an arrow that flew through the air, almost pinning one of his wings to the tree trunk. A rumble sounded in the air, announcing storm clouds that were fast approaching. It was his loss now, due to _someone_ who knew his true name. Paws scrabbled in front of him, and then the large wolf lost his grip on the branch and fell to the ground below.

_Tch._ Couldn’t even reach him now, and he was exhausted from the fight. But if he didn’t take care of Fubuki now…

Another group of arrows rained down on him and he still couldn’t feel his magic reserves. Unable to continue in this condition, Aphrodi hesitated, then winged off into the night. Four wings beating in tandem to carry him through the swirling air currents. 

Below, guards swarmed into the area as they arrived at the scene of the fight. Fubuki could only see a blurry object flying off in the distance as he lay panting on the hard ground. Closing his eyes, he wondered why he felt so calm inside despite the shouts and cries of the guards all around him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah I'm totally not using ao3 like some html billboard for art I drew for a fic.


	9. lucidity

A gentle breeze wafted across the empty beds in the open room, stopping only when it hit the one full bed and stirring silver strands of hair. Fubuki gazed out the open window, watching white clouds move overhead. Footsteps sounded from the stone hallway outside, heading his way. Ears twitching, he turned to greet the newcomer and sat up straighter upon seeing who it was.

“Endou!”

The friendly king beamed a smile at him from across the room as he walked to Fubuki’s bedside. Settling a basket that was stuffed full of fruit and sandwiches down on the table, he poured a glass of water for himself and sat down.

“Fubuki, I’m sorry it took me so long to come see you. It’s been crazy ever since Kingkiller came and left.” Shadows darting across the doorway showed that Endou’s security was higher than ever. Fubuki didn’t doubt that there were guards posted underneath all the windows now as well. Just as there had been every night he’d been here, now the only one left after Gouenji and Tsunami had recovered. 

“Don’t worry, I’m sure it’s been a lot of work on your end.” Fubuki’s quiet voice almost seemed to disappear in the wind. Gripping the white sheets, a free hand came up in a familiar fashion yet grasped at thin air. The jewel was gone now, the chain of the necklace having been retrieved later and thrown to the farthest part of his room. Yet he couldn’t bear to just throw it away so he’d just kept it out of sight. 

Endou watched, brows furrowing as he witnessed this action that he’d dismissed in the past. 

“How have you been faring? The healers said your leg will be better soon.” Upping his formality and dancing around the delicate topic of Fubuki’s mental health, Endou decided to start with physical health. Fubuki shifted the sheets aside, showing him the bandages on his calf.

“They said I should be good to go in a few more days. The wound is healed but it will leave a scar.” 

“I’m sorry…” Endou knew it was part of being king, yet seeing people get hurt while protecting him wasn’t something he could ever get used to. 

“Don’t be sorry. I made my own choices.” Fubuki’s voice was firm now, carrying through the air to him. Endou looked up at his ice mage and saw that new determination had set in those teal eyes. 

“I suppose,” Endou smiled and leaned back to start enjoying a sandwich. Sure, it was for Fubuki, but he’d been in meetings all day and was hungry. Feeling generous, he reached in and grabbed another one to place in Fubuki’s hand. 

“Eat up! You need the energy.” 

“That!” Fubuki began to protest, then gave up. Eating in silence together, Fubuki felt at ease in the presence of his king. The past week in the cold medical ward alone had given him too much time to think. His friends had visited during the daytime, but at night he’d found himself tossing and turning. After a long spell of reasoning with himself, he’d finally settled his internal thoughts, bidding goodbye to a part of himself before finally falling asleep to a world of silent snow in his dreams. 

_I’m Shirou._

Endou had finished one sandwich and was working at some fruit now, slicing an apple with a jeweled knife and placing slices on the table next to him. Gesturing at the pieces, he nodded at the healing patient. 

“Fubuki.” 

“Yes?” Fubuki hadn’t even finished his sandwich yet but picked up an apple slice to show that he understood the request.

“When you fought Kingkiller, how did you know his true name?” 

_Ah, so that’s what Endou was here for._ He was surprised no one had asked him before this but it seemed to have been undergoing heavy discussion. Leaning back into the pillows, he explained the long-ago encounter to a carefully listening king. Reaching up to rub his chest after he finished reciting his memories, he thought back to how much that jewel had carried him through life. In the end, it wasn’t all a false hope. 

“I see. So you know his and he also knows yours. That does make things a bit difficult.” 

“He’s still deadly with a blade.” Fubuki remarked, remembering how many times he’d almost died to those golden swings.

“True, but no mage likes it when someone uses their true name. I think he’ll lay off of us for a bit. He took quite heavy damage during the battle too.” Endou set his knife back into its sheath and rubbed his forehead. “The problem is that he knows your true name.”

“Right…” If Aphrodi used it at the right time while hidden during a battle they’d be at a serious disadvantage. 

“We’ll have to be careful with where you go. Too bad we can’t just stuff your ears.” Endou joked. A true name had a direct effect on the user’s magic so that sadly wouldn’t work. “The good news is that we don’t think he’s in league with the aliens.”

“I didn’t think so either…” Aphrodi’s magic had been so different, and he felt like the type to operate alone. Fubuki knew that all his visitors had been avoiding talk about heavy topics to try and keep his spirits up during recovery. “Has there been any news of that?”

“Great question! Touko’s identified what she thinks is going to be the next alien attack point. We were going to head out in a few days and it seems like you’ll recover in time. Do you think you’ll be up for it? It’ll be near the volcano again, but we’ll have protections made.”

“Yes, of course!” Fubuki sat up straight, pulling his leg in closer to support himself. The wound barely hurt anymore, and he was sure of himself now. Sure that he could hold his own in a fight and help in every way possible. 

Endou smiled, having already guessed the answer. 

“That’s great! I’ll get the protections ready and have your staff brought back up. The cape has been mended too, so you’ll be set when we head out! Although we’ll still be going by horse.” 

“Ah...I really can’t run beside the group as a wolf?” Fubuki wondered how his leg would hold up to horse riding, yet probably better than running for days in the heat. Still, horses….

“Nope! Doctor’s orders.” Endou teased as he got up from his seat. Bright light shone through the windows as he walked out of the slowly warming room. 

“It’s good to have you back, Fubuki.” 

\---

Resting in the forest on a tree branch, Aphrodi gazed at the volcano in the distance. The fire within the earth always called out to him, strongest on this continent with active faults still at play. Although....it wasn’t as if he could remember much about his own home anymore. Having spent the majority of his time flying from one continent to another, his memories of the past were hazy at best. 

After the last encounter with Fubuki, he didn’t feel like doing much anymore. Now that he knew that little wolf pup was still alive and now part of Endou’s inner circle, everything seemed pointless. Sure, maybe he could kill him in the middle of the night, but Aphrodi didn’t work like that. Their security would be watching out for that as well. Reaching up to rub his shoulders, he lightly heated the air around him to try and chase off the chill that had been hanging over him since then. 

The Commander probably would’ve known about his failure by now. It had been a week since then and no new skuas had come. Although if one had, he would’ve killed it on sight. Taking the pendant out of his pocket, he gazed at it for a moment longer, then ignited it with white hot fire. Patting himself down, he methodically took out everything that linked him to his past and burned them. Pausing at his dual blades, Aphrodi turned them in the air and watched as the sunlight glinted off of them. These were his own, crafted specially to match with his magic. Feeling the worn hilts with his fingers, he sheathed them again. 

He’d rest for a few more days to regain his strength, then head off across the ocean again if he felt like it. Emptiness consumed him, letting in the regrets of what he had done flow in. A new continent, that would be nice, one where no one knew him. Yet the sins of the past couldn’t just be chased off like this. 

The Commander would try and track him down but this wasn’t a mere whim of Aphrodi’s. He’d make sure to never be found again.

\---

“Kidou and Sakuma will be meeting up with us in two days if their travel time hasn’t changed,” Endou informed the assembled group of mages. They were clustered in his room at the inn having just finished breakfast. Travel had taken a week of hard riding, but luckily they seemed to have arrived before anything happened. Tsunami had been overjoyed at the sight of the lake that bordered one side of the city. Fubuki suspected that the man had already snuck out to swim that morning. He stunk of freshwater, but only a sensitive beastman nose could pick it up.

“For now, we’re just on standby here. You’re all free to wander around, maybe gather some information if possible.” Glancing out through the window slats, the volcano was still visible in the distance. Just a three day ride away, the exact radius that the next attack was predicted to be in. 

“Sounds great! I’m going to the lake if anyone else is interested.” Tsunami announced, standing up from the ground and dusting his damp shorts off. 

“I’ll go.” Fubuki volunteered to babysit alongside Tachimukai. A change of pace would be nice, some open fields of grass and whispering trees was what he needed. Their trip hadn’t given him the dose of nature he desired, Fubuki having spent the entire time being roughly towed around on horseback. Nasty beasts. He’d never even eaten a horse before so the animalistic grudge against him was unfounded.

They bid goodbye to Endou and Gouenji who went to deal with some administrative matters in the city and headed out the doors of the inn towards the lake. Joining the cityfolk who were streaming out into the nearby fields for a day’s work, the three mages veered off the dirt road into the surrounding greenery and cut towards the large lake. 

“Ahh this is great, away from city life,” Tsunami exclaimed as he ran straight into the lake. Fubuki glanced over at Tachimukai with alarm only to see that the earth mage was still completely relaxed. Heading over to a nearby slab of grey stone, Tachimukai climbed onto it, then laid down to begin sunning himself.

“Tsunami…?” Fubuki started to ask when a figure popped out of the water halfway down the lake with a whoop. “Ok nevermind, he’ll be fine.”

“He’s a water mage, after all. If he doesn’t go swimming every few days he’ll wither away,” Tachimukai smiled, eyes closed as he basked in the sun’s glow. The earth was strong here, a comforting touch as he spent some time recharging his magic.

“Ha.” Fubuki sat down in the shadow of the stone slab, pulling out a book he’d been meaning to finish reading. Opening it up, his bookmark and a white feather fell onto his lap. Snatching up the feather and checking to make sure Tachimukai hadn’t seen it, he folded it back into the last page. 

He reached up towards his chest again, hand brushing against the rough fabric that had been used to mend his cape. New clasps had been added to mend where Aphrodi’s blade had sliced through. His outfit had been upgraded as well, with removable straps that housed protective gems. Despite being so far from the tundra, he didn’t feel the oppressive heat of the volcano anymore. A welcome respite after the last trip through the desert and city of stone. Sensing the reserve of magic power within himself, Fubuki instinctively knew that it was greater than before. Some part of himself had finally been freed and he could easily slip into his full well of power now. 

Time passed quickly as Tsunami frolicked in the water and Tachimukai sunbathed. The water mage soon grew bored of entertaining himself and sent some water over to splash the two landlubbers. 

“Tsunami!” Tachimukai sat up from the warm stone, wiping cold water off of his face. “Don’t get Fubuki caught up in this! Agh!” Cold nipped at his hand. Looking down, he saw that frost had spread over the puddle his hand was in. Fubuki was hiding a smile behind his open book, an unassuming culprit.

“Fubuki, don’t you start on me, too!” Shifting the stone a few feet away, he began to lie back down to dry himself off when a tremor ran through the ground. Immediately sitting back up, he looked over at Fubuki who was making the excess water form into ice and shaking it off of himself. 

“Fubuki...did you feel anything?” 

“Hm? No? Other than the water?” Patting off his capelet, Fubuki began to sit back down when Tachimukai jumped up again.

“Tsunami! Get back here!” The distant water mage heard his husband’s call and parted the waves to steer himself back onto shore.

“What’s up, honey?” 

Tachimukai stood stock still on the stone slab, seemingly trying to sense something in the earth. Twitching again, he turned to look diagonally across the lake, towards the mountain ridges. 

“I feel the tremors again! It’s coming from the mountain ridge.” Hopping off of the slab, he buckled his cape back up and then flinched again. “Agh, it’s more and more frequent, let’s go!”

“But what about Endou and Gouenji?” Fubuki asked as he trailed along behind them, breaking into a jog as Tachimukai sped up. His husband ran beside him, not even bothering to protest their change in plans.

“Gouenji will be able to feel the magma, he’s been keeping an eye on it.” Tachimukai yelled back over his shoulder. “They should join up with us, but at least we should go check it out.” 

“Is it far?” Tsunami was curious now, but figured the lake was large enough that he’d have a water source within reach.

“Far enough...I don’t know if we can run all the way.” Tachimukai confessed. He suddenly wished they’d brought their horses.

“Just ride on my back.”

With that, Fubuki transformed back into a grey wolf. Larger than a typical wolf, his size was enhanced by the magic in his blood. He leaned down on one side to let Tachimukai and Tsunami both climb aboard his back. Checking that they were secure, Fubuki took off at a breakneck speed while following directions that Tachimukai shouted into his ear. 

\---

Fire roiled in the ground below. Pushing against his power, calling to it. 

Aphrodi snapped open his eyes, having been woken by the sudden surge of power in the earth. Sitting up on the branch, he could feel all the heat below being pulled in one direction. He’d felt it before and ignored the calls but this time was different. The magma below the earth was moving with such ferocity, he wondered if another one of his kind had been sent. He had been the most powerful at the time but someone born after him may have surpassed his magic. 

Teetering on the edge of the branch, another burst of power deep below finalized his decision. Wings spreading, he flew through the branches to see what the source of this disturbance was.

\---

Fubuki stopped short of the gully, having scented their enemy up ahead. Bending down so the two mages could quietly dismount, he shook himself a few times then transformed back. 

“I can scent wyverns up ahead.” 

“Nasty, must be the same group.” Tsunami remarked, trying to peer through the dense foliage in hopes of spotting movement. “Honey, do you feel anything?”

“I feel sort of sick,” Tachimukai responded, squatting down to touch the earth with his bare hands. “The earth isn’t happy here...they’re trying to force energy into it. Feels like it’s spitting something out. Possibly another earthquake?”

“We have to stop them, if it’s the same ones as last time I think we could handle it.” Fubuki thought back to the bickering fire and ice mage duo. It had been quite easy to take care of them and it would be three versus two, good odds.

“I suppose...let’s go take a look first.” The earth mage acquiesced and headed forward towards the bushes. Pushing through, Tsunami was trying to navigate the rocky topsoil when a surge in the river below overpowered his protections and startled him. Feet slipping slightly, he kicked a rock downslope.

“Ahhh Tachimukai, can you stop that?!” Tsunami whispered in a panic, using his husband’s full name for once. 

“Unless you want me to force the entire hillside to become solid rock, then no!” Came a whispered frustrated response. Earth mages could only manipulate earth itself. A flying rock’s form could be changed, but unless he timed it to hit the ground right, he couldn’t stop the fall. If he stuck it to another loose rock the problem could just grow. 

The sound of scattered stone echoed from within the gully below. The trio held their breaths, hoping that they could be dismissed as a stray deer wandering through. A strong gust of wind a few moments later quickly dashed their hopes as two black masses appeared over the edge.

“Dang he got a new wyvern already,” Tsunami remarked at the two snapping black beasts. 

“Observe later, run now!” Tachimukai grabbed his husband’s arm and roughly dragged him back, only to be stopped by a wall of fire.

“Not so fast-” Burn started to monologue, then almost got bucked off by his new wyvern.

“What he means is: die.” Gazel translated for the trio below, forming spears of ice in the air. 

“Speak for yourself,” Fubuki muttered as he delved into his own power. Forcing Gazel’s magic back, he flattened the spears in the air to mere plates that then shattered at a subtle mental nudge. Ice crystals rained down on them, but that maneuver bought enough time for Tsunami to make the swollen river below swell into a geyser that directly targeted Burn again.

“We should take out the more problematic one first,” Tachimukai remarked, picking up some stones and shaping them into some nice projectiles. One day he was going to learn how to use a slingshot, but for now he was going to just chuck some stones with his arm.

“Fire mage is as good a target as any,” Tsunami protested. 

“Wyverns can’t breath fire right?” Fubuki vaguely recalled Kidou saying as such in the past. 

“Kidou said no, but why- Fubuki!” The ice mage had launched himself into the air after Gazel’s hovering wyvern upon hearing Tachimukai’s affirmation.

“Take care of the other one!” Fubuki shouted at the two frazzled leftover mages. 

“Gotcha! Let’s drown him. I’m going to weigh him down with water and you can bury him.” Tsunami eagerly laid out his battle plan to Tachimukai who had to agree that it was bloodthirsty but good. Dodging the fire around them, Tsunami finally got tired of being hemmed in at the edge of the gully and grabbed his husband to directly jump into the river below. Supporting the two of them in the water, Tsunami steered the river flow until they landed at a rocky outcrop in the middle of the rushing stream.

“You can feel the earth here, right?” He asked, pulling his husband onto the wet surface.

“This is fine, just keep a defense up. Lure him down and then get him close to the river bottom.” Tachimukai sent his magic down through the stone, feeling the cold river rocks below that were being tossed around by the currents. Smooth rocks that had been shaped over years of being underwater, these were a bit harder to manipulate due to being so imbued with water magic, but he’d handle it with his husband. Tsunami pulled up a dome of water around them, then started yelling insults at the fire mage.

“I think your hair looks real stupid!” He shouted up at the hovering mage. “And your fire is so weak it can’t even dry off my pants!” 

“What?!” Burn pulled on his wyvern’s reigns for a moment, then angrily sent his beast into a dive down towards the two mages.

“I can’t believe that worked.” Tsunami remarked with wonder before shooting out tendrils of water to try and catch the approaching wyvern. 

Fubuki vaguely heard the shouted insults and also couldn’t believe it had worked to bait the fire mage in, but that meant he was left with the ice mage now. Latching onto the side of a tree to use as a base, it was a delicate balance between defense and offense as the two worked the same type of magic. Fubuki’s will clashed against Gazel’s, causing most of their creations to disintegrate into frosted powder in the air. He had to find a way to lure Gazel in, and insulting his hairstyle wasn’t going to work on this one.

Thinking for a moment, Fubuki suddenly turned tail and ran deeper into the woods. Heading along the direction that Tachimukai had tried to steer him to, he turned his head to see the ice mage streaming after him. Just as Fubuki had guessed, these two had been either scouting or guarding the center of the disturbance. Checking that he was out of Gazel’s view, he doubled back around, then launched himself into the air behind the rapidly approaching wyvern. Gazel was unable to change his wyvern’s direction at such high speeds and found himself thrown off of his steed. Fubuki’s crescent blade clattered off of the tough black scales, but found purchase in the soft underbelly where he sliced through. Leaving the wounded wyvern to fall through the air, he jumped off the back of the creature and followed Gazel’s path down to the ground.

Gazel in turn tried to hinder Fubuki’s pursuit with ice, but had taken some damage from the fall. In terms of power, Fubuki was starting to dominate. In an attempt to flush out his prey, he ran forward and stumbled out into an open meadow.

Fubuki found himself stopping at the edge of a large crater in the ground. The ground was ruptured in parts and no greenery was present, which proved that this was a recent event. Gazel was nowhere to be found, but Fubuki’s curiosity urged him onwards. Cautiously looking around first, he couldn’t sense ice magic anywhere else so he peered over the side.

\---

Aphrodi squinted at the crater below, trying to make sense of what was happening. A red-haired figure was retrieving an asteroid at the center. Nothing unusual in and of itself, but then the figure had simply grasped the rock and cleaved it in half. 

_An earth mage?!_ Aphrodi knew that earth mages could manipulate rock but...a space rock? That was weird. He watched as the mage scooped out the center of the rock, then compressed it into a small black orb. Seemingly satisfied with the result, he tossed the asteroid remnants back into the ground and began smoothing everything back up to make the crater disappear. This was where all the power was rushing to, but the moment that the earth mage had compressed the rock all underground movement had stopped. 

Standing back up, Aphrodi grasped at a branch next to him to avoid getting stabbed in the eye while extracting himself from the depths of the tree. In the middle of this delicate process, he heard branches snap at a distance and then a white-haired lackey slid down the side of the crater. This piqued his interest and he went back to spying on the happenings below. The newcomer ran straight to the earth mage and began speaking with some earnest hand gesturing (a middle finger?) and pointing behind him. Aphrodi had felt vague flares of fire magic but had dismissed it as someone trying to have some simple camping fun. Evidently this was not simple camping fun.

The two of them were deep in discussion below when a new challenger entered the clearing. A very familiar challenger, as Aphrodi leaned closer to gaze down at the cause of all his current troubles. Twitching wolf ears and a long silver crescent staff, the blue capelet seemed to have been mended and sat nicely on his thin shoulders again. Reshuffling his wings with interest, Aphrodi could appreciate how nice the little ice mage looked from a distance. Even nicer close up but that was for his teasing dreams and not reality, totally not why he was loathe to kill the ice mage.

He watched as Fubuki peeked over the side of the crater, then was nearly engulfed in a wash of soil. Aphrodi’s back stiffened as he watched this play out. He didn’t particularly enjoy someone else dealing with his old prey. Fubuki was being cornered now, two mages against one, and the earth mage seemed unusually powerful. 

_Something’s wrong here,_ Aphrodi noted as he watched the soil fly through the air. The earth mage reached into his pocket, then pushed something into his mouth. Suddenly the magma below began to turn at a fever pitch, bringing Aphrodi to his knees. Fingers digging into the rough tree bark, he glanced up to see that the enemy ice mage had backed off from his companion. Fubuki was managing to hold his own for a bit but was having to expend energy to stay in the air.

Aphrodi tried to look away, but couldn’t bring himself to just leave. His questions hadn’t been answered, and he was bothered by how the simple earth mage could have such an effect on the environment.

_“I thought you were my guardian angel!”_

Fubuki’s words echoed in his mind as he bit down on his lip. Aphrodi never did like killing, but he’d done so under orders. He spared whatever lives he could, often hiding the fact that he did so, but still….

_I don’t work under the Commander anymore..._

Yet Aphrodi felt like that wasn’t a good reason to suddenly help. He didn’t even know what the problem was here, and the last thing he should do was draw more attention to himself. Not when he was trying to disappear forever.

Fubuki was managing to stay in the air when it seemed like the earth mage had had enough. Lifting a hand, soil coalesced above the ground at several points and quivered in the air.

“That-!” Aphrodi sharply whispered at this impossible sight. The earth mage was controlling and holding the soil _in the air._

_Fubuki can’t counter that!_ He watched as the beastman landed on a hastily formed plane of ice when his knee suddenly buckled to the side. Fubuki’s calf still hadn’t fully healed, especially not after running through the forest like that.

Aphrodi saw the leg splay to the side. Saw the ice shatter in the air. The newly formed boulders were homing in on the struggling ice mage --

Aphrodi took flight, in the exact opposite direction his mind was telling him to go. Yet this time he followed his heart. 

\---

Fubuki figured he was about to meet his end while being crushed unceremoniously between giant levitating boulders. He briefly thought about freezing himself, but there wasn’t enough water in the air to do so. Changing his direction mid-fall hadn’t helped either as the boulders only followed him. Observations he made in the split seconds before the face of the boulders grew so close they blotted out the sun above. Closing his eyes, he grit his teeth to try and burst out as much ice as possible to slow the inevitable crush when something warm grabbed him out of the air. A sharp cry sounded from next to his ear, and when he opened his eyes again, a field of golden hair blocked out the blue sky above. 

The two of them crashed onto the ground on the side, then white fire burst up all around them forming a protective dome. Fubuki cried out and tried to edge away from the fire before noticing that it wasn’t moving anywhere. Something heavy was laying on top of him, and he looked down to see a pale body curled up and weighing down his legs.

“Aphrodi?!” Fubuki managed to pull himself out from under the unexpected savior, then moved aside his hand to see it covered in sticky red. 

_I don’t feel any pain, so whose blood?!_ There was only one other person next to the ice mage, and when he carefully moved his injured leg aside from Aphrodi, he choked back a sob. 

A wing was missing from Aphrodi’s back, where there were previously four. Blood was pouring out from the open gash onto his side and dyeing crisp white feathers red. 

“Aphrodi! No!” Fubuki scrambled for his dagger and cut off the bottom hem of his tunic. Tying it up against the bleeding wing stub, he scrambled to check for a pulse. “Aphrodi oh god, please don’t tell me you’re dead.” 

Golden lashes fluttered open slightly, then a thin smile appeared on the fallen angel’s face. His mouth moved, and Fubuki leaned in to better hear what might be Aphrodi’s last words.

“Sometimes, I can be your guardian angel,” he whispered, before weakly coughing and closing his eyes again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>   
> 
> 
> Some sketches I did when I was first writing the fic.


	10. drifting

Fire sparked, far-apart sparks that danced in the dark and formed circles around him. Aphrodi floated in the endless expanse, wondering why he could stay in the air despite not beating his wings. Voices clustered all around him, disembodied ones that lent themselves into an ethereal background murmur. Looking behind him, he saw that one wing was so pale and translucent, he could see the sparse sparks through it. He reached for it, but his hand only passed through. 

“Are you stars?” Aphrodi asked as he caught a spark in his open palms and brought it up to his face. The spark felt warm to the touch but the moment he came close to looking at its core it fizzled out. 

_Listen_ , the sparks suddenly whispered to him. _Listen._

Aphrodi strained his ears and listened. As tired as he was, he couldn’t sleep yet. There was someone he wanted to see one more time.

\---

“NO _,_ you _can’t_ kill him!” 

_Was that Fubuki’s voice?_ It sounded so angry, like when they had met in battle.

“Gouenji! Stop! A life for a life! He saved my life and I won’t let you take his!” 

Aphrodi stirred, cracking open his eyes to find that his hands were tied behind his back. How nice. Feeling crept back into his body, enough for him to shift slightly and then suck in a deep breath at the pain that lanced through his back. It felt like someone had knifed him in the back and then hadn’t bothered to remove the knife. 

_My wing. It’s gone._

“Aphrodi?” Silver hair appeared in his vision, and then a hand came close and drew aside the golden locks that were stuck to his forehead from sweat. “Oh Aphrodi you’re awake, thank goodness.” 

“Now can I kill him?” Gouenji complained. “He’s awake now so it’s fair game.”

“Gouenji, please leave.” Fubuki firmly replied. “I can handle him and he’s running a fever. If I die here it’s my fault.”

“I wouldn’t kill youuuu,” Aphrodi quietly complained. His voice was hoarse from lack of water and the strain of speaking caused him to wheeze slightly at the pain. 

“I doubt you can right now.” A gentle hand reached over and pulled his covers back up over him. “Do you think you can sit up? Just nod or shake your head, don’t talk.” 

Aphrodi wasn’t sure, but he nodded anyways. Worst case he’d pass out again. Forever. Sucking in a sharp breath, he held it until Fubuki had finished moving him slightly upright. Pillows pressed against the small of his back, the pain forcing him to lean onto one side to give himself some breathing room. 

“The healer said they couldn’t do too much at once, you were so drained in magical power that forcing your body to heal too quickly could’ve killed you,” Fubuki explained as he poured a glass of water. Bringing it up to Aphrodi’s lips, he watched as the patient weakly lapped at the water, then gave up after a bit. Barely any water had made it into his mouth. Fubuki stared at the full glass, then drank some himself. Aphrodi was registering the vague fact that Gouenji had snorted and left the room when cold lips pressed onto his own. Unable to fight back, Aphrodi was forced to swallow the water that flowed into his mouth. Gasping for air after the unexpected kiss, confused red eyes stared at a slightly smug Fubuki.

“I guess I can die now,” Aphrodi weakly noted, leaning back onto the pillows, having briefly forgotten the pain in his back. 

“Was it that bad? I’ll just pour this down your throat next, then.” Fubuki was tapping some powder into the next cup of water, turning the drink a vile brown color. Aphrodi eyed it warily, then tried to move aside as Fubuki held the concoction in his mouth again. Struggling proved fruitless as he was forced to swallow what he swore was poisonous dirt water while being kissed. A bit spilled out of his mouth that Fubuki wiped aside with his sleeve. 

“I’m going to die, you poisoned me.” Aphrodi lamented, helpless in the stuffy bed. Pillows had been arranged all around him, most likely to prevent extra injuries if he tossed and turned while asleep.

“I drank some too, so if that does happen, we’ll die together.” Fubuki drew up the blankets that had fallen to the side and tucked them in around the whining patient’s shoulders. Aphrodi could feel sleep creeping up on him again, but he didn’t want to close his eyes yet. Not if he wasn’t sure if he’d wake up again after this. 

“Fubuki.”

“Yes?”

“That was my first kiss.”

Aphrodi’s eyelids fluttered shut again and he fell asleep. The medicine had been laced with a sedative and painkiller to help his recovery along. Fubuki stared at the sleeping boy for a bit longer, then suddenly felt heat blossom on his cheeks. He had only thought that was the quickest way to get Aphrodi to drink water, but…! Placing a careful hand on Aphrodi’s forehead, he registered the high fever running underneath. It had been a miracle that he’d woken up so early, and just as Fubuki was visiting, too. The healers had been unsure if he’d even live when they’d come to check on him, still bleeding on the dirt floor of the inn after Fubuki had carried him back in wolf form. 

Aphrodi had kept the white fire burning all around them until Tsunami and Tachimukai had caught up. Endou and Gouenji had arrived after sensing the disturbance, but were late to the battle. By that time, Burn had been nicely trounced and fled back to Gazel and the new earth mage’s side. Endou’s group had managed to chase off the aliens, but he acknowledged that it was due to the aliens wanting to leave, not through any power of their own. Fubuki had simply whispered Aphrodi’s true name once it was safe to come out and the fire was immediately extinguished so that his comrades could come rescue him. 

Gouenji had wanted to kill Aphrodi on sight, but Endou and Fubuki argued against it. Aphrodi was bleeding out so badly that Fubuki ended up overriding the debate and had changed back to a wolf, clamping Aphrodi loosely within his jaws and running all the way back to the city to find the first healer he could. They’d found the rest of his wing later, crushed between a cluster of boulders that had fused together midair and dropped to the ground. With no way to retrieve it and the wing already so far gone, the healer had said that Aphrodi would have to live with just three wings now. 

“Granted I’ve never healed winged folk, so I’m treating him like an injured bird.” The healer had explained to a very concerned Fubuki. “There may be more knowledge in the Pillars, but unfortunately I was not apprenticed through there.”

Pulling out of his recollection, Fubuki sent out a gentle nudge of frost to help cool down the feverish patient. He then got up to go report Aphrodi’s condition to the rest of the group.

Kidou and Sakuma had arrived yesterday, narrowly missing the alien confrontation. At the same time, a hearty packet of information had arrived via Touko’s courier outlining the new developments she had made. Written in code, only Gouenji could decipher it, which he was spending the majority of his time doing. 

“How’s Kingkiller doing?” Kidou asked as he looked up from the freshly deciphered paper he was reading. 

“His name is Aphrodi, and he just briefly woke up. Enough time for me to give him some of the medicine.” Fubuki sat down on the floor and rested his back against the bed frame, the rest of the available surfaces of the room already occupied by either papers or people. Gouenji gave an annoyed grunt in response while Sakuma continued carefully polishing his gun. Neither of the two guards liked Aphrodi at all, and still resolutely wanted him dead.

“How long did the healer say it would take for him to heal? We can’t just leave him here, but also can’t transport him right now.” Endou knew that they should start heading back to the capital now that the entire group was together, but Aphrodi’s current constitution was too delicate for any movement. 

“She didn’t know, since winged folk heal at a different rate,” Fubuki thought back to the information he had learned while researching. “Kidou, do you know anything? The healer mentioned that Aphrodi’s magic reserves were dry by the time she got to him…” Aphrodi had kept that fire burning for so long, Fubuki feared that the mage had been using up his life to keep the two of them safe - or maybe just Fubuki safe at that point. The use of his true name hadn't helped either, snuffing out whatever he had left.

“Winged folk are just like beastmen with magic, the magic is inherently tied to their wellbeing.” Kidou finished reading over the paper, then handed it to Endou who began glancing over it. “I’m surprised he didn’t have some magic cores on him, I would’ve expected him to have some.”

“Me too...although would it help if someone shared their fire magic with him?” Fubuki could only think of such a solution.

“I’m definitely not doing that so don’t ask.” Gouenji interjected.

“It wouldn’t work anyways, magic is unique to each individual. But if you wanted to speed it up I’d say bring him to a location with a lot of natural heat. He’d be able to better draw from that power.”

“There’s some hot springs here!” Tsunami eagerly volunteered the information, then quailed a bit at the frosty atmosphere in the room.

“Thanks Tsunami, I’ll see if I can take him there.” Fubuki gave the water enthusiast a grateful smile. “Hopefully it’ll help him heal faster.” Turning to leave, Fubuki heard some more papers rustle in the background as Endou handed the papers back to Kidou.

“Endou, did you even read them?”

“Yeah! Rococo left me a note saying he loves me.”

“Endou...that wasn’t the main point.”

“Can you believe I had to decode THAT?” Gouenji complained as the door shut behind Fubuki. Hiding a smile, the quiet ice mage made his way downstairs to ask for directions to the warmest hot spring.

\---

Sparks danced around him again, forming blinking chains in the nebulous space. Aphrodi felt warmth flooding through him. He couldn’t see his fourth wing anymore, only the memory of it lingered in the space it once held. 

A gentle roar of ocean waves sounded in the distance, churning in the endless cycle of tides. 

“Oh, hello again,” Aphrodi greeted two sparks that bounced into his open palm. Tinged with blue this time, they flared brightly before disappearing back into darkness. 

_Look_ , the sparks breathed. _Look._

Aphrodi opened his eyes, yet saw the same endless expanse of darkness with flares of sparks all around him. Closing his eyes again, he willed himself to truly see.

\---

Opening his eyes, the first sensation he felt was that the air was extremely damp. Warm water lapped at his sides, washing over his sensitive feathers. Carefully turning his head, he saw a familiar crown of silver hair. Aphrodi let his gaze sweep down the gentle curve of the beastman’s back, noting how the humid air caused the thin muslim shift to cling to Fubuki’s pale skin. Smiling at this image, he resolved to thank the little sparks for this hint to wake up at just the right time. 

Fubuki seemed to have noticed his movement, as the ice mage turned to check on him. Reaching out a hand, he brushed aside Aphrodi’s bangs only to realize that crimson eyes were open and watching him. Flinching back as if he’d been burned, Fubuki ended up brushing aside his own side bangs with a confused hand.

“How are you feeling? Wait, don't reply yet.” Turning slightly, he poured out a small cup of water then brought it up to Aphrodi’s lips. The fire mage drank it all this time, an accident as he’d been so thirsty. 

_Damn, no kiss this time._

“Not dying?” Aphrodi offered, unsure how else he was supposed to reply. The radiating pain last time had dulled significantly, and his body felt warm this time, all the way to his bones. A comfortable feeling, as if he was back in his childhood nest. 

“I suppose that’s an improvement.” Fubuki picked up a towel and wiped Aphrodi’s forehead off.

“Where am I?”

“At the hot springs. It’s been three days since you last woke up. Kidou said that natural heat would be good for your recovery so I’ve been bringing you here.” Fubuki was rustling in the bag next to him, digging around until he pulled out a small packet of powder wrapped in paper.

“Oh hell no.” Aphrodi recognized it immediately. Trying to push himself up and away, he nearly slipped on the slick tile and Fubuki lunged forward to catch him. The packet of powder fell in the water next to them and brown liquid began seeping out of it.

“Don’t move! You might reopen your wound.” Fubuki snatched the soggy packet up and haphazardly dumped it into the cup. Aphrodi’s mouth was set in a tight line, determined to not go through that again. 

“Nope you don’t get a choice. The healer said you have to take it when you’re awake. If you recover quickly you won’t have to take anymore. C’mon.” Fubuki tried coaxing, wheedling, but in the end he had to go the old fashioned route. Holding it in his mouth, he forced Aphrodi down against the wet tile and kissed him. Hands pushed weakly against him, not bound anymore after Fubuki had argued against it. _He’s still not at full strength_ , Fubuki sadly observed. 

“I hate this.” Aphrodi’s voice was slurring again as the medicine began to kick in. Fubuki was rinsing out his mouth when he felt something grip his damp sleeve. Looking down, he saw that Aphrodi had grasped it and was muttering something. He leaned down, feeling a sense of deja vu.

“Yet I like you.” 

A confession so quiet he could’ve missed it. 

Fubuki’s tail shot straight up in the air, puffing out as he stared at the sleeping angel. _I must’ve heard that wrong. He must’ve meant “I hate you.”_ Reaching up to clutch at his chest again, his palm only touched damp fabric. Shaking his head, he went back to reading the book he’d brought. One of many to pass the hours he spent here watching over the recovering fire mage.

\---

“I wonder if he heard me.” Aphrodi spoke to the sky of stars as he hugged his knees to his chest. The only answer he received was the twinkling of sparks as they jostled through the air, vying for his attention. Cupping his hand, Aphrodi stood up and then bent down to scoop up a handful of sparks. Multicolored, warm to the touch, he suddenly realized what these were. 

The air was silent, calm spreading through his entire soul. 

Matching his palms together, the sparks flared and shot out through the cracks of his fingers, stinging him slightly in the process. They danced up his arm and tangled in his hair.

_Live_ , they sang. _Live!_

Aphrodi clasped his hands to his chest. 

“I will. Thank you.” Taking a deep breath, he wrapped his remaining wings around him and closed his eyes, bidding this shimmering landscape goodbye.

\---

This time when he woke up, Aphrodi instinctively knew he wouldn’t see that mysterious space again. He felt well now, at least well enough to sit up on his own. Doing exactly that, he then pressed a hand to his chest. Warmth blossomed from within and heat flowed to his palm, his magic fully restored. It was strange, not having one of his wings anymore. Physically he knew it was gone, but in his mind that wing was still there and strong. Resisting the urge to move the phantom wing, he scooted to the side of the bed only to almost step on a very furry and three-dimensional rug.

Fubuki was curled up at the side of his bed in wolf form fast asleep. Stepping carefully over the sleeping beast, he went to the window and opened it to gaze at the night sky. The cool wind seeped in and ruffled Fubuki’s fur, quickly waking him up. Lifting his muzzle, he saw the silhouette of Aphrodi standing at the window, hands on the windowsill and leaning out. Shifting to humanoid form before he could even finish drawing breath, he ran over and hugged Aphrodi tightly from behind, dragging him back from the window. 

“Fubuki?! Ow!” Aphrodi cried out as his wound bumped against Fubuki’s elbow. 

“You can’t just leave! You’re not healed up yet!” Dumping the confused angel back into bed, he roughly pulled blankets back over Aphrodi while growling. “I’m going to pin you down if you’re going to try and leave like that! .........oh no, did I bump your wound? Oh god, I’m sorry.” Fubuki’s hands shook as he pulled aside the sheets to see Aphrodi pale and clutching the base of his severed wing. 

“I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to... I just panicked. Agh here-” Reaching into the bowl of water on the nightstand, he pulled out a wet towel and lightly frosted it, resting it over the bandaged wound. “The cold will calm the pain. I’m sorry….” 

Aphrodi didn’t speak for a while, trying to deal with the flareup. Finally easing the towel off of his back, he let loose a deep breath and turned to lay on his side while facing Fubuki. 

“I didn’t know ice mages could get so aggressive. Pin me down?” asked the teasing voice. Fubuki’s heart calmed slightly. This was the Aphrodi he knew from before.

“I’m really sorry - I just lost myself there for a bit.” Fubuki confessed. 

“Lose yourself a bit more often. As long as you don’t touch my wound I don’t mind.” A sly smile had spread on Aphrodi’s face as he watched Fubuki’s neck turn red. 

“How are you feeling?” Fubuki tried to change the topic.

“Good. I’ll be healed soon, I can feel it. My wing won’t grow back but it’s alright. I can still fly with two.” Aphrodi shifted slightly, letting his wings reshuffle into a more comfortable position. He still moved the old wing base and winced a bit at the accidental movement.

“Why…” Fubuki had wanted to ask this question every time Aphrodi had woken up but hadn’t managed to find the time in those brief moments.

“Why did I save you? Because I wanted to.” Aphrodi reached over and brushed aside the silver hair that had fallen over Fubuki’s brows. “I figured there wasn’t much left in me, so I might as well spend it on someone who had more of a future.”

“How could you think that!” Fubuki’s tone made Aphrodi pull his hand back in surprise. “You almost died!”

“That was the point.” Aphrodi quietly answered. He hadn’t meant to make it out of that maneuver alive. Pouring all his energy into maintaining the shield of fire, he’d drawn everything he had from his cores and burned it all in a final bid to protect Fubuki. 

“I can’t believe you. You, who stood like a god at the peak. Have you fallen so far?” Aphrodi didn’t want to look at Fubuki as the ice mage forcefully spoke. He’d asked himself the same questions, unwilling to answer them even to himself. 

“Aphrodi. Please.” He looked then and saw the moonlight softly illuminating Fubuki’s side. The night wind ruffled the fur on those ears, so soft to the touch when he had brushed against it earlier. Teal eyes that seemed so much stronger than before gazed at him. 

“There’s not much left of me. I threw away my past after that fight with you. I don’t have a home to go to anymore, or an idea of what to do. So what if I just wanted to let it all go?” 

“You have a place here now,” Fubuki firmly answered. “A life for a life, ours are connected now. You aren’t to die on me anytime soon. Not after I saved yours.”

Aphrodi was silent, then laughed, a tinkling sound that filled the dark room. 

“I suppose then. I’ll live for you, and me.” He began to close his eyes, then noticed Fubuki’s expression of concern and the subtle glance that had been thrown towards the open window.

“Oh and Fubuki.”

“Yes?”

“Earlier, I was just trying to cool myself off. Not throw myself out the window. I still can’t fly.” 

“Oh. I’m sorry…” Fubuki got up to go close the windows before the cold would bother Aphrodi too much. 

“Don’t be. At least you gave me a hug.” 

Fubuki whirled around, but Aphrodi was already feigning sleep by then. Unable to protest without possibly waking up the randomly flirty fire mage, Fubuki carefully closed the windows then laid back down on the bed next to him. Before he fell asleep, Fubuki felt something soft brush over his shoulder and lay on top of him. A single wing.


	11. portward

Aphrodi was carefully stretching his wings, trying to see if he could stop moving the stub. Through the efforts of the healer and his own internal magic (and maybe in some part that vile dirt poison) the wound had scabbed over nicely and he was free to move around as long as a fresh cloth bandage was kept on it. One that he whined about and had Fubuki help him change out everyday. 

Extending his arms out, he let his fingers graze against the primary covert feathers on his wings. His full wingspan was twice the length of his arm span so he could only tug at his middle feathers. Carefully flexing his pinions, he winced again as the stubby wing base moved. 

“Damnit,” Aphrodi muttered as he stretched his arms up and leaned towards one side. Slowly, to not aggravate the wound, but just enough to start working his muscles up again. A fuss outside the door had him relaxing his arms and then warily moving towards the window in defense. He still couldn’t fly, but that was only because he wasn’t to reopen the wound. Didn’t mean he couldn’t just wing off in a panic and deal with all the blood later.

“I’m saying he’s still recovering!” Fubuki’s protest carried through the air to him as the door was forcibly cracked open. Some jostling occurred outside in the hallway and then a few familiar ex-enemy faces shoved in through the doorway. 

“He looks fine. He’s standing and looks evil.” Sakuma observed, coming in to stand next to the doorway as the rest of the group filed in.

“Excuse me?” Aphrodi agreed with everything but the evil part. 

“Look, he can even talk back!” 

Aphrodi was starting to not really like where this was going. He gazed at the assembled group in front of him that all looked ready to draw weapons at any point - except the earth and water mage. One looked friendly and the other looked a bit worried.

“Is this an ‘Oh wonderful you’re alive’ party or a ‘You’ll wish you were dead’ party? I haven’t been to a party in a while so please enlighten me.” He shuffled his feathers while asking and noticed how everyone twitched at the sudden movement. Great.

“It’s an ‘Everyone be nice to Aphrodi’ party,” Fubuki asserted as he finally made it into the room. “I’m sorry Aphrodi, I told them you were still recovering but _a few someones_ insisted that you were fine.” Teal eyes glared at an indifferent fire mage and a calculating sniper.

“Uh...I guess I’ll start? Sorry I tried to kill all of you.” Aphrodi offered. 

“Wow. He’s honest.” Tsunami quipped.

“Pure eloquence.” Kidou agreed. “Although what basis do you have _other_ than saving Fubuki’s life for us to not take care of you right now?” 

“Information?” Aphrodi wasn’t stupid, he’d been thinking about this when he was awake. “And also if you get rid of me then the Commander will just send a different assassin- oh?” Kidou and Sakuma had both stiffened at this name. “I see you’re familiar with him. Well either way you all should be glad I got sent here since I’m actually handsome and the other option would’ve been a crazy half-bald mage.” 

“Can that one fly?” Gouenji spoke up this time. 

“Hm? No, I'm the only one that can fly.”

“We would’ve preferred the one that can’t fly.”

“Hey!” Miffed at not being the chosen killer Aphrodi crossed his arms. “But I do still have plenty of information. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, right? Although now I’m open to friendship applications!” His proclamation was met with frosty silence although Tsunami did look slightly promising as a friend. He at least wasn’t glaring daggers at him.

“About what?” Endou spoke this time. Everyone else in the room quieted down to look at the king for guidance.

“The aliens, I did follow them around for a bit out of my own curiosity. But I’m not telling you anything else unless you promise not to kill me in the middle of my sleep. Or when I’m eating. Or anytime in general.” 

Endou was stuck in a tough spot. They did need more information about the aliens. Touko’s report was incomplete, only mostly made up of conjectures and some hard data that she’d put together. If Aphrodi was speaking the truth, then this would be a huge help. Endou looked over at the pouting angel. Fubuki had told them everything that had happened, but most of the group was on the fence that Aphrodi could change sides so easily. When searched, however, he’d had nothing but his dual blades on him…. Those were currently in Gouenji’s possession and were to be kept far away from the feisty firebird. 

“Your true name…” Endou started to see if he could bind Aphrodi, but the tricky ex-assassin seemed to have been expecting this.

“A name for a name,” Aphrodi invoked, putting the two of them in a bind again. Shouts of protest came from all around the group ranging from _don’t trust that fucker_ to _you can’t give anyone your true name!_

“Excuse me but...I know his true name.” Fubuki finally spoke up, having watched this altercation from behind everyone. Pushing to the front, he went to stand next to Aphrodi, noticing how the angel’s wings were starting to tremble.

_He’s putting on a tough front…_

“And I’ll take responsibility for him.” The ice mage’s quiet voice was filled with certainty. “I know I asked for a favor beyond my status to spare his life, but he truly did save mine. More than once as well. If you all will please believe me, Aphrodi wants to help us. His past isn’t clean, but he can at least make amends for it now.” 

Silence stretched through the room and Aphrodi desperately wanted to give Fubuki a grateful look and maybe cry into his chest at these touching words. Not like the wolf boy had let him get any closer since that night, but one could hope. 

“Alright!” Endou smiled and held out his hand to the ex-assassin. “I believe you.”

“Endou!” Gouenji couldn’t believe that his king, as kind as he was, would so easily accept someone that had tried to kill him multiple times. 

“It’ll be fine Gouenji, I trust Fubuki. And Aphrodi went against the aliens, too.” 

Aphrodi hesitated, then reached out and grasped the proffered hand. Shaking it carefully, he noted the scars that could be felt on Endou’s palm. This king was a hard worker.

“Thank you, Endou. And really I had no personal grudge against any of you. It was just under orders. I know that doesn’t make it better but I just wanted to clarify…”

“Tch whatever, what information _do_ you have? It better be good.” Sakuma went and sat down on the bed, resting his gun over his lap. The rest of the group all found proper places to sit or stand and then directed expectant looks at Aphrodi. 

“Here,” Fubuki took his hand and guided him over to the last open chair. “You still shouldn’t stand for too long yet.”

“Oh, thank you…” Sitting down, Aphrodi had to adjust a few times to make sure the back of the chair didn’t hit any funny spots. Designs for wingless folk were always so inconvenient.

“Well first, I was working under the Commander. He raises assassins like me from a young age and we essentially carry out whatever orders we’re told.” Aphrodi thought back to the multiple near-death situations he had been forced into under this line of work. Maybe his halfhearted attempts at taking care of Endou had been a cry for help. Glancing over at Fubuki, he was secretly glad it had been answered in the most unconventional way.

“Sometimes he approaches others that weren’t directly raised for recruitment which I see must’ve happened to you and Kidou.” Aphrodi addressed Sakuma at this, having remembered their previous reaction. 

“He was partially successful in our kingdom but we managed to get rid of almost all of his influence.” Kidou responded for his guard. They didn’t talk about the Commander days much anymore. 

“I figured as such, if I was told to lay off of you after a bit. I think I was only meant to scare you…” Aphrodi thought back to that mission assignment. “Endou’s was the one that was more serious.” 

“Where is this man?” Tachimukai suddenly spoke up, surprising everyone in the room. He had been so quiet that the majority of the group had forgotten he was even here.

“Last I knew, he was on a small island off the Northern continent,” Aphrodi offered. “But he moves frequently and I haven’t been back in a while so I honestly don’t know. I’d tell you if I knew.” _Which is probably why he’s so paranoid,_ Aphrodi thought to himself, _I’d sell him out right now._

“Other than that, I know his message patterns and how to intercept them. Although I did burn the pendant I used to use…” _And everything else, whoops._

“If you can let Sakuma and I know what you had we can probably recreate a safe version of it.” Kidou mused. This _was_ useful information, as they were still trying to flush out some remaining followers of the Commander. Having someone so high rank turn to their side was already proving helpful. 

“Sounds good!” Aphrodi racked his brain for a bit, then decided to open with a question instead. “What do you guys know about the aliens?”

“What, now you’re questioning _us?_ ” 

_Man, that Sakuma was such a problem._

“I’d be a fool to deal all my cards at once.” Aphrodi evenly responded.

“We promise not to kill you,” Endou raised up his right hand. “Kidou?”

“Fine. We also promise. Me _and_ Sakuma.” Kidou emphasized the last point, raising up his own right hand.

“Cool, now that I won’t randomly die at your hands, what do you know?” Aphrodi wasn’t letting this go. He was also curious and the more information the better. It was an exchange now, not a briefing.

“Well…” Kidou had been expecting Endou to answer but then remembered how little the benevolent king had actually absorbed from the documents. “The aliens have been causing natural disasters - mainly earthquakes - all along the mountain ridge. A series of major faults seem to lie under the ridge and previously dormant ones are now becoming active due to the amount of movement that’s being induced through what we believe is magic.” Kidou reached into his cape and drew out a crudely drawn map of the continent that had red ink marking all the earthquake points. 

“The activity is growing closer to the volcano with each new report, that is if we disregard the ones that we believe are natural earthquakes. Although because so many faults have been reactivated, some seem to be chain reactions from the previous earthquakes so it’s all linked in the end.” 

“I see...this matches up with what I was feeling, too. I’m sure your little fire mage over there can feel it, but the heat within the earth here has been especially strong with multiple flares and movement over the past few months. It’s been building in intensity.” Aphrodi thought back to the amount of times he’d been simply flying and then felt a wave of power thrum from the earth below. To feel it from high up in the air meant that there had been a large disturbance underground. 

“Fubuki, do you remember how that new earth mage was fighting you?” Fubuki’s tufted ears twitched at being asked to recall this memory. 

“I do...he made rocks form in the air and then threw them at me - that was before you saved me.” 

“In the _air?!_ ” Tachimukai yelped upon hearing this. “That should be impossible! Us earth mages can’t just _levitate_ rock.”

“Well he was, and I saw him do it, too.” Aphrodi remembered his own shock and was glad he hadn’t forgotten what earth mages could and couldn’t do.

“But!” He felt smug that he’d seen this happen. “Before that earth mage started doing crazy magic stuff like that he ate something from his pocket. It seemed to really amplify his magic - wait I’m not finished.” He’d seen both Kidou and Sakuma start to speak and held up his hand. “And before even _that_ , I believe he’d created the crater to retrieve the asteroid buried in the ground. Yes, asteroid.” The previously quiet group now seemed to have a million questions. Even Fubuki was intrigued at this development.

“He split the asteroid in half and then pulled out the core which he then compressed into this tiny sphere. It might’ve been what he ate later, but I didn’t know that asteroids could enhance magical powers like that.”

“I’m sure we could find some studies or records of this at the Pillars.” Kidou’s mind was racing with all this new information. “And if we could find a record of where some asteroids had landed and if they match up to where the new earthquakes have been…”

“They may have been retrieving asteroids, but that doesn’t explain why there’s so many earthquakes.” Gouenji stared at the map. “I doubt that we’ve had this many asteroids over the centuries on this continent. They’re quite rare.” 

“That’s true, but Kidou is right we should do some research.” Sakuma was also trying to process all of this. “Tachimukai, do you know anything about this space rock stuff?”

“No...I’m sorry but I’ve never even seen an asteroid before,” Tachimukai replied, running his fingers over each other. “I wish I could be of more help.”

“Don’t worry Tachimukai, you’re plenty helpful.” Endou assured the worried earth mage. “However, we are on the wrong side of the mountains to do some deeper research. It’ll take a while to get to the Pillars if we try and cut through the mountain pass, oh wait unless…!” 

“Are we really going to the Pillars?” Tachimukai asked, sitting up straighter from the floor where he’d been leaning against his husband. He’d heard about this place of learning before. A giant school specializing in magic and its ties to the elements, it was the birthing place of knowledge. To be able to visit such a location would be a dream come true. Even being in the city around it was enough to keep a normal mage educated for years.

“Yep we sure are!” Endou clapped his hands as he made this decision. “And I know just the way to get there! Through the trade ports!”

“The ocean! Yes!” Tsunami was overjoyed at this suggestion but everyone else reacted negatively. 

“Endou, wouldn’t it take even longer to go around the continent by sea?” Kidou argued against this route. “We should just try and forge through the mountain pass.”

“The spring snow is still dense up top,” Fubuki noted. “I’m not sure if our horses would be able to make it through all of that.”

“A ship in these seas won’t work well though, the winds aren’t in our favor right now.” Sakuma rubbed his chin, trying to think of a better solution.

“Well we don’t need to worry about wind, because I know a wind mage and he’s the one who runs the trade port!” Endou propped his hands on his hips. “He’s my childhood friend, and I’m sure he’d be happy to help us out!”

Gouenji briefly thought back to the times he’d met the extremely stressed wind mage that always had a schedule packed at 28 hours a day. 

“Yeah Endou...I don’t know about that.”

\---

It took three days of hard riding to get to the port. Tsunami had begged for the group to just get into a boat and he’d whisk them down the river, but as the river was behind one set of mountain ranges it would take just as long to make it there in the first place. Coupled with how half of them weren’t keen on water and the river was still swollen with fresh snowmelt, the group had ended up on horseback again. Fubuki and Aphrodi rode together, mostly because he was still recovering and tended to fall asleep at inopportune times. Something about how Fubuki was comforting for him was Aphrodi’s claim. No one else believed him except Tsunami who would sometimes talk to him during mealtimes. 

Now they were all squished inside the small wooden hallway of the port master’s building, waiting for the aforementioned wind mage to make some time to meet them. Endou had managed to grasp a port apprentice but had only been rudely shoved a ticket number and waved off. Unwilling to wait a week for his number to be called, the group had bribed their way into the port master building and were now scrupulously dodging busy assistants who were running to and fro.

“Aren’t you close friends with this rumored wind mage?” Kidou asked as he stepped aside for a busy runner that was carrying an obscene amount of scrolls. “I would’ve thought he would receive you by now seeing as you’re his king and all.”

“Unfortunately that doesn’t matter here.” A new voice interrupted the huddled group. Turning as one, they gazed at the speaker. Tan skin with blonde hair that went down to his shoulders, a stern port worker with golden stripes of seniority on his sleeve gazed at them.

“Oh! Miyasaka!” Endou stepped forward, eager to greet his old friend’s husband. To everyone’s shock Miyasaka simply waved Endou aside.

“Did you get a number yet? Oh good, well you can wait until that’s called. Kazemaru has a packed schedule per usual and has no slots today for new solicitors.” Aphrodi was truly impressed at how little this man cared about anything but business right now. In front of not one but two kings he was telling them to very politely fuck off.

“But Miyasaka, please, this is urgent. You know I don’t ask for favors often,” Endou pleaded against the port master’s guardian sentry. His only obstacle before getting to Kazemaru and one that he couldn’t bribe.

“It’s _always_ urgent! Do you know how many times a day I hear that? And oh no don’t even get started with the ‘but I’m his childhood friend _’_ shit. If I took that at face value every time Kazemaru would have grown up with the entire world as his childhood friend.” The entire group was getting the distinct impression that this stressed secretary was currently using the king of Raimon as a vent space. 

“Miyasaka, I’ll make sure he gets a week off for your wedding anniversary.” Endou finally played his trump card. 

“You-” The angry sentry was about to launch into another tirade when he processed what had been offered. “How are you going to guarantee that?” Miyasaka sharply challenged.

“If I have to close down the port then I will do just that. You have my word I will make it happen, and yes I know the date. I was there.” Endou quickly tried to cover all his bases. He actually didn’t know the date but he’d ask Rococo later. 

“I see...what’s this all about?” He was finally willing to hear them out, shoulders relaxing slightly and bringing up a stuffed clipboard to begin taking notes.

“Well, we’d like Kazemaru to help us get to the Pillars. With his wind magic and our really good water mage here I was hoping to make it there in less than three days.” Endou began to explain but was immediately shut down by Miyasaka.

“Nope, not happening. If you want to get there that quickly he’d have to go with you and he barely even gets time to leave his office-” A strong gust of wind suddenly blew through the hallway, streaming in from the open windows. Papers flew and shutters clattered as an enrobed figure with a long blue ponytail seemed to leap in through the window while carrying a large pile of papers under their elbow. Navy robes fluttering, the newcomer landed lightly on the floor with barely a sound, an exceptional display of wind magic control. 

“Kazemaru!” Endou shouted before Miyasaka could shove a hand over his king’s mouth. 

“Huh?!” The wind mage dropped some papers, then blew them back up into his hands before they even hit the floor. “Oh Endou! How are you? Why are you here?” 

“Kazemaru no!” Miyasaka began to protest before being shoved aside by the entire group as they went to surround the wind mage. As a whole, everyone silently agreed that cornering Kazemaru and shutting out Miyasaka would be the fastest solution to their predicament.

“Kazemaru yes.” Endou forcefully grabbed his confused friend’s hands in his and held them up between the two of them. “Kazemaru I have a serious favor to ask of you, from a friend to another friend.” Endou really tried to emphasize the last point and the fact that they actually were childhood friends. “Would you be able to charter a boat for us to the Pillars and bring us there within three days? This is seriously urgent and for the sake of our kingdom. Also we have a water mage.” Endou pointed his round chin at Tsunami who gave a confused smile and raised a hand up as if this was just a normal roll call. 

“Wh-Endou are you serious?” Kazemaru tried to pull his hands away but found his king’s grip was too strong. Chartering a boat so far to the Pillars...within three days. A normal trip to the Pillars one way would take a week with fair winds. This would be going cross and against wind, along with navigating the spring seas that were anything but calm. He looked at Endou again and saw the depth of certainty in the king’s hazel eyes. Endou would never ask for such a heavy favor for no reason, there was something behind this that was important. 

“Miyasaka.” Kazemaru turned to call his husband and begrudging secretary.

“What.” Squished against the side of the narrow hallway, Miyasaka was starting to get a creeping sense of unease.

“That shipment of raw magical material and tooling that’s heading to the Pillars, when is that supposed to set sail?” Miyasaka narrowed his eyes as he pulled out a logbook and checked through it. An impressive beast of a journal, the impeccable cursive writing within was coded and intensely detailed in a method that only the two of them could decode. Part of how this port was so successful and handled dozens of shipments a day. Stopping at a column, he ran his hand down it and stopped at a cramped cell. 

“Tomorrow.” 

“Could I take a look at that?” Relocating the papers he was holding into a neat stack on the ground, Kazemaru reached over after shaking off Endou’s hands and flipped through the logbook. Muttering to himself, he checked between pages and seemed to be mentally running some calculations. Handing the worn book back to Miyasaka he looked back at Endou.

“Are you able to make it onto a ship tomorrow? I can shift around the port schedule to accommodate you.” 

“Kazemaru!” Miyasaka immediately protested this change of heart. “You can’t! The shipments-”

“Miyasaka it’ll be alright. We just have to move a few docking times around, and you’re also a good wind mage. You can definitely handle this while I’m gone.” Kazemaru pushed through the group and wrapped an arm around his husband’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, but if Endou is asking for something like this, it’s definitely important. I won’t pry but it’s best to get you all on your way quickly.” The last statement was directed to the group who eagerly nodded, not wanting to upset the delicate agreement that had been achieved. 

“Do you have a place to stay for the night?” Kazemaru asked the assembled group. 

“We do,” Gouenji spoke up this time, deeming it safe to actually participate in the conversation without making everything worse. “Our horses will be left behind and taken care of. We’ll be sure to make all the usual arrangements before leaving.”

“Great. I’m sure you’ll take care of it.” Kazemaru reached up and ran a hand through the long bangs that covered one of his eyes. Aphrodi wondered if he was like Sakuma with a magical eye and resolved to privately find out later. “The ship sets out at three in the morning tomorrow. It’ll be at the western blue dock. I’ll meet you there. Pack for a three day journey on the seas.” Full of business, he started to turn and head back out the window but Endou reached out to grasp his sleeve before he could tumble out. 

“Yes?” The wind mage looked back to see a relieved looking group and one very angry husband. He’d have to explain this tonight - probably not get any sleep since the ship was leaving so early, too. Miyasaka would understand though, that if he could help his king and childhood friend then he would. 

“Thanks Kazemaru, you won’t regret this.” Endou was privately thinking about the week off he’d have to wrangle for the largest port in his kingdom but it would be worth it. Especially seeing how overworked his poor friend was. The man definitely needed a set vacation time. 

Smiling in response, the wind mage simply waved at them, then disappeared over the edge again. Endou slowly turned, ready to deal with an irate Miyasaka only to discover that the secretary had also disappeared - probably also out an open window. There was a reason why none of these windows had screens as the majority of workers here were wind mages who would simply use a breeze to jump between floors. 

“Well, I guess we’ve secured passage for tomorrow to the Pillars!” Endou announced to the befuddled group. It had truly been a stroke of good luck that Kazemaru had tumbled through the window at that moment. “For now let’s try to pick up supplies and then get some sleep before the early morning tomorrow!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have a little Fubuki.


	12. rough seas

Having secured rooms for the night, everyone was predictably separated by kingdom and marriage status. Everyone except Aphrodi and Fubuki who had been unceremoniously dumped in one room together as none of them still trusted an ex-assassin at night, except the one who’d nursed him back to health. 

“I am so glad I won’t have to get back on a horse for a while,” Aphrodi exclaimed as he headed into the room ahead of Fubuki. Entering while uttering a noise of agreement, Fubuki immediately slammed the door shut behind him as he saw Aphrodi fully stripping off his top in the middle of the room.

“Aphrodi! The window’s open!” Fubuki hissed, scandalized at this bold display and ran over to close the shutters. 

“So what? Oh I forgot all you land walkers are so prude,” Aphrodi teased, narrowing his eyes with a smile. “God, I don’t understand how people just walk all day.” He carefully rubbed the small of his back, sitting down on the wooden floor with just a skirt on and the top of his outfit hanging loosely at his waist. Winged folk clothes were surprisingly complex, having ribbons in the back that looped around the wing bases. Considering that Aphrodi was now one wing less, he had had to make some modifications to his outfit and avoid aggravating the still-healing stub. 

Fubuki had to force himself to look away. Lithe muscles that were usually hidden under the normally decently clothed body flexed in front of him as Aphrodi began to stretch. Fubuki still hadn’t found time to ask Kidou if winged folk really were as brash as this all the time. Wingtips stretched out and splayed open, feathers grazing against the floor as Aphrodi bent forward to stretch his waist. Looking away had proved fruitless as Fubuki was openly staring now. The way Aphrodi moved was so graceful and beautiful, every movement laced with a corresponding one in his pure white wings. 

“Do you think...you can fly again soon?” Fubuki voiced his worries, having noticed how Aphrodi would often look towards the sky at the wheeling eagles above. How the angel would hide the discomfort of having to jostle through human throngs and deal with being tied to the land. 

Aphrodi flexed his wings experimentally, then suddenly reached behind him and pressed down on the remaining single wing on the bottom. He flexed his wings again and Fubuki saw that the stub didn’t move this time. 

“If I tie this one down I think I’ll be alright. I normally use my bottom wings for fuel in a fight.”

Fubuki distinctly remembered the rain of feathers Aphrodi liked to set on fire and noticed that the bottom wing definitely had less feathers than the ones in the top set. “But I guess if I’m in a fight, then my stub moving is of least concern,” Aphrodi joked. Glancing at the orange sunlight filtering in through the shutters, he got up and shook himself off. A couple loose feathers fell onto the ground that he swept aside with a bare foot. 

“It’s getting late, let’s just go to bed now so we can wake up in time.” Three in the morning was early indeed, to the point that Sakuma had volunteered to just stay awake and rouse them all when needed. 

“Ah, alright.” Fubuki transformed into a wolf and began to pad over to the floor when he felt something —no— someone grab his tail. Turning his head, he saw Aphrodi firmly grasping his poor tail. 

“Yes?” A raspier growl accompanied his speech every time he was in beast form, a bit embarrassing to the gentle mage but something he couldn’t get rid of.

“The bed is large enough for two, and you should get some comfortable sleep before we have to get tossed around on a ship for three days.” Aphrodi twitched a wing at the one bed in the room. Fubuki stared at him for a moment, teal wolf eyes gazing at him with unfathomable emotion.

Frost nipped at Aphrodi’s hand and he let go with a yelp as Fubuki transformed back. Standing up from his crouched position, Fubuki undid the clasps of his cape with a sigh. 

“Are all you winged folk like this?”

“Like what?” Aphrodi tried to give an innocent sounding response.

“Willful, flirtatious, reckless?” Fubuki ran off a few adjectives that he felt fit the one winged folk he knew.

Aphrodi laughed at this direct callout, knowing that he was this annoying to only one beastman. 

“What an observation, little wolf.” The long-ago memory now lingered between the two of them when Aphrodi referred to Fubuki as such. 

“The least I could’ve done since I’m stuck with you for a while.” Fubuki noted as he folded up the cape and set it on the nightstand. He placed his staff next to it, then began to climb into bed. Aphrodi hadn’t moved from where he had been standing, though, and had an unfamiliarly pensive look on his face. Over the past few weeks Fubuki had discovered that when Aphrodi didn’t have orders to follow, the angel was prone to not thinking at all. 

“Fubuki...when this is done, what are you planning on doing?” Aphrodi came over and sat down on the side of the bed, leaning forward slightly so his wings wouldn’t knock against the bedframe. 

“Huh? When we’ve figured out the alien problem?” Fubuki had been in the middle of pulling the blankets apart from the neatly folded stack in the middle of the bed. Distracted by the cloth puzzle in front of him, he didn’t put much thought into his response. “I suppose just go back to the tundra?”

“Oh. I see.” Aphrodi’s tone caused him to stop what he was doing and look over at the winged figure. 

“Is something wrong?” Fubuki asked, worried that the wound might be acting up after such an active day. “Do you want me to check the bandages?” 

“No, it’s fine,” Aphrodi waved off his concern and suddenly turned all smiles again. “That’s enough talk, we should sleep now.” Ruffling his wings, he began to pull apart the blankets and methodically build a nest. This was the first time Aphrodi had had enough energy to really put a bed together the way he liked it, and Fubuki relinquished control of the blankets to the sudden mother hen.

Watching Aphrodi carefully tuck blankets in a circular fashion around himself, Fubuki was forced to ask a pertinent question.

“Aphrodi, where am I supposed to sleep if you’re building a nest in the middle of the bed?”

“Huh?” Sparkling red eyes looked up at him with confusion. “In here of course! Like this.” Leaning to the side, Aphrodi gestured at a Fubuki-sized space inside the half-completed blanket nest. “I wish I had some straw, this would be perfect with straw,” Aphrodi sighed as he continued pinning some blanket edges together with sharp feathers.

“I…” Fubuki suddenly remembered when he’d read about winged folk and their nesting habits. How they were usually fine sleeping in whatever method but when stressed they tended to start building very tight nests. Fubuki gazed at the angel who was essentially creating a cocoon. 

“Aphrodi…” He had to go about this carefully, knowing Aphrodi’s prideful personality that made it hard for the fire mage to admit he had Feelings. “Are you a bit stressed? About our journey?” _Maybe he’s not good with water…._

“I’m not stressed!” Countered a now visibly stressed fire mage. Aphrodi’s wings had puffed up in defense at being accused as such. 

“Alright let’s sleep.” He burrowed into the side of the circular cloth nest and covered his face with a carefully positioned wing. There was just enough space for Fubuki to gingerly step in, but not enough to sleep without leaning against Aphrodi. Fubuki reached over and pried aside the feathers that softened at his touch. He knew how razor sharp they could be, but Aphrodi always fluffed them up whenever he got too close. 

“What’s on your mind, Aphrodi?” Fubuki knew neither of them would be able to get much sleep like this with the amount of unresolved tension in the air thanks to one talkative fire mage that suddenly didn’t want to talk. 

“Nothing important,” came a muffled reply as Aphrodi hid his face. Long golden hair had caught on portions of the nest and formed a shimmering spider web behind his head. Fubuki further extended his hand through the feathers and then pet Aphrodi’s head. It was silky and warm to the touch. Fubuki stayed silent, petting the golden crown of hair. 

“Is it the water? Are you not good with water?” He had to try and take a stab at the problem. 

“No. I regularly fly over the ocean,” came a curt response.

“Then what is it? Your back? Your wings? We can find a better healer at the Pillars, I’m sure-” 

“No.”

_A no at the healers or that he wasn’t in pain?_ Fubuki couldn’t make sense of any of this. Racking his brain for what might be the problem he thought back to when Aphrodi was still healing. Those long days spent at the hot springs watching over the healing fire mage and then- 

_“Yet I like you.”_

_Oh._

A first kiss, a confession, everything that had been done during the wrong times and situations that had been swept to the side in their ensuing frantic journey to the ports. 

“Aphrodi, is this about you liking me?” Fubuki decided to go straight for the throat. He immediately felt the feathers seize up around his arm before relaxing again due to his presence.

“Oh no. You heard that?” A small and strangled voice answered him. “I thought I was...noooooo.” Fully admitting defeat in life, Aphrodi pulled his wings close and pushed himself away from a bemused Fubuki. Well as much away as he could in the tight nest.

“Were you serious about that or was that a pain-induced delusion?” Fubuki continued pushing despite Aphrodi very much wishing he had died back then.

“Liking you would _never_ be a pain-induced delusion. You should value yourself more.” For some reason the winged cocoon was suddenly giving self-love advice. 

“Aphrodi this isn’t about me, this is about you. You should take some of your own advice. Also you’re avoiding the question.” Fubuki attempted to pry aside the feathers again but found that the winged appendages were just as stubborn as the owner when needed. 

“I’m not.” A stubborn reply.

“Aphrodi…” a low growl swept through his throat, Fubuki had grown frustrated and was unable to fully suppress his beastman instincts. “I’m going to turn into a wolf and make your nest explode from my size.” 

“No, not the nest! Ah-” at the threat of having his precious nest destroyed, Aphrodi had loosened up his feathers and poked a cautious head out only to have his shoulder caught by Fubuki who had been lying in wait. 

“Alright no more hiding, tell me, do you like me?” 

Wide red eyes stared at him, but a firm shake of the thin shoulder shook loose the answer he was waiting for.

“Yes…”

“I see.” A more methodical answer than anything Aphrodi would’ve expected. Well really, he should’ve expected that, but it didn’t explain Fubuki’s view of him. If the ice mage even liked him back. 

“OK…” Aphrodi wanted to curl back up into a feather ball. “If this interrogation is over can I sleep now?” In reality he really wanted to jump out the window and disappear but he didn’t want to traumatize Fubuki again. 

“Alright.” Yet Fubuki didn’t let go of his shoulder. Aphrodi started to reach up and push away the tightly gripping hand when he was pulled forward with a surprising amount of force. Fumbling slightly in the tight space, Aphrodi’s mind was elsewhere when soft lips met his once again. Fubuki was _kissing_ him and it wasn’t for disgusting dirt medicine this time...this was a real first kiss.

“There.” Fubuki finally let go of Aphrodi then reached up and lovingly stroked his long hair. “I hope that sets your heart at ease now, Aphrodi.”

_He called my name_. Aphrodi was dizzy with happiness, or maybe exhaustion. He wasn’t quite sure, but now he _did_ want to live. 

“You feel the same?” he squeaked out, hating how his voice cracked at that very moment. He felt a soft kiss plant onto his forehead, then Fubuki reached up and pulled one of his wings over both of them.

“Mhm. Goodnight, my guardian angel.” The calm ice mage simply fell asleep nestled against his chest. A feat that Aphrodi didn’t understand as he felt like all he could hear over Fubuki’s gentle breathing was the pounding of his heart. He wasn’t getting any sleep tonight.

\---

Fubuki was leaning against a pile of crates above the deck, trying to work through the waves of nausea that were flowing through him. It was their last day at sea and he was desperately hoping that he’d get the option of briskly walking through the mountains on their return trip. Another wave of nausea hit him and he heaved slightly as a pink-haired water mage flew over the merchant ship on a large wave with a whoop. How Tsunami could stand all this, he didn’t know. 

“Here, this might help.” A warm cup of tea presented itself in front of him. Gratefully taking the steaming cup, Fubuki took a cautious sip, then accidentally burnt the tip of his tongue as the deck swung again. 

“Oh no, was that too hot?” Aphrodi sat down next to him and placed a cautious wing around his shoulders. 

“No it’s OK, I just have a cat’s tongue.” Fubuki tried to assure him, while not noticing the irony of a wolf tribe member saying that. Aphrodi leaned over and gently rubbed his new lover’s back, leaning against Fubuki while doing so. The two had spent some hushed and brief cabin conversations over the last few days to ensure that their feelings were mutual. They hadn’t told any of the group members yet, but some people were already a bit suspicious. Not in the least Sakuma who had almost been attacked by Aphrodi when he’d pounded on their door to wake them up in time to board the ship. A sleepy Fubuki in the background crawling out of a pile of blankets coupled with Aphrodi’s nonexistent top and mussed up hair gave Sakuma enough to work with to draw his own conclusions. In reality, Aphrodi wished they had managed to get that far instead of blacking out from exhaustion.

“I would’ve thought that since your element is tied to water, you would do a bit better on ships,” Aphrodi commented with amusement as the ice mage continued carefully sipping on the tea. Fubuki had ended up freezing some parts of it to lower the temperature quickly.

“Wolves are not meant to be at sea.” Fubuki firmly replied, before blanching slightly as the ship listed to one side. Aphrodi braced the two of them against the crates that had been lashed down on deck. Kazemaru was currently perched on the crow’s nest and spent all his time and energy directing the winds in their favor. Tsunami could qualify as part-dolphin at this point as he spent almost all his waking hours in the ocean manipulating the water currents to speed along their passage. With two skilled mages guiding the ship, the regular ship crew had little to do so they had been working on a good amount of at-sea repairs, thus adding to the din all around them. 

“Don’t worry, we’ll be there soon,” Aphrodi assured him. “I think you’ll like the Pillars, I’ve been there a few times and there is so much to learn there. Even for an outsider like me.” _Who may have broken in illegally a few times..._

“I’m an outsider, too.” Fubuki was starting to feel a bit better after drinking the tea. He’d tasted a hint of lemon and a _lot_ of ginger in it, both good for countering nausea. “The Pillars is located in Teikoku so I’d count as an outsider.”

“You know what I mean,” Aphrodi snuck a quick kiss on Fubuki’s cheek, leaning back with a pleased expression as color spread on the pale mage’s cheeks. “It looks like you’re feeling better now. I’ll brew up some more for you if you start feeling unwell again.” Taking back the cup, Aphrodi stood up and trotted belowdecks, probably to go annoy someone until they gave him some more ingredients. 

Fubuki took in a shallow breath of salty air, then also headed belowdecks to go visit the rest of his traveling companions. Ducking inside one of the cramped cabins, he found Tachimukai curled up in a hammock while Kidou and Gouenji sat together on the wooden side bench. They were deep in discussion on something, but stopped when Fubuki came to join them.

“You feeling alright? You look better than poor Tachimukai here,” Kidou gestured at the groaning earth mage who was suffering from the harsh boat movements. 

“This is so much worse than fishing boats,” Tachimukai whispered. “I feel like a river rock.” 

“It _is_ a lot worse, but that’s because we have two crazy mages pushing us through at twice the pace we should be moving at.” Gouenji conceded. “Kazemaru’s always been powerful, and he brought one of his own magic cores this time, too. We’re getting there at an extremely generous pace.” 

“The faster the better, just wake me up when we get there,” Tachimukai whispered as he drew some more blankets over his head. 

“Fubuki, how are _you_ doing?” Kidou asked as he looked at the normally nauseous ice mage. Surprisingly, he looked quite a healthy shade of white now. 

“Better. Aphrodi made me some tea and it did help. Tachimukai, I’ll have him give you some later.” The earth mage only gave a weak groan in response. “I was wondering, Kidou, since you are from Teikoku if we had a plan on what to do when we got to the Pillars? I’ve never been, so I have no idea.”

“Ah I was just talking to Gouenji about that,” Kidou was amused at how similar everyone’s thoughts were. Yesterday, he’d discussed this with Sakuma and Endou. Now Fubuki and Gouenji were here to ask the same thing. “Since it’s in my kingdom I’ll be handling most of the traveling affairs. We’re planning on docking at the city port and heading directly into the Pillars. It’s a large school, so there should be empty dorm rooms for us to briefly stay in.” 

“We shouldn’t be there for too long and I know a professor that should be able to help us with our research. After that, well...it depends on what we discover.” Kidou leaned back and felt his dreadlocks brush against the low cabin ceiling. When in school he’d been more focused on summoning and magic theory, so he was unfamiliar with magic cores and how certain materials were better at transferring energy. Since he wasn’t a mage, the explanations that centered on “feeling” were always hard to follow. 

“Sounds good…” Fubuki wavered in place for a moment, keenly aware of the two sets of eyes watching him. “Um, I was wondering, how hard would it be to get a good healer from there?” _Or how much it would cost...._ Fubuki didn’t have very much money on him. Their trip so far had been funded mostly by Endou and Kidou’s coffers. 

“Ah.” Kidou’s tone softened as he guessed what this was for. “I’ll make sure a good one can be found and brought in if time allows for it.”

“Thanks, Kidou,” Fubuki responded gratefully. As much as Aphrodi assured him it didn’t hurt, he still noticed when the angel would flinch upon being brushed against on the wrong side. Aphrodi had taken to tying down his extra wing and practiced flapping around on the deck. This drove the sailors insane as he would sometimes lose control and careen into their precious cargo. 

“Don’t worry about it. Actually, if you don’t mind, I was also asking Gouenji some questions about magical cores and how they function for you mages. It would be helpful to hear your thoughts…”

“Oh, sure.” Fubuki sat down on the floor, avoiding perching on one of the dangerously swinging hammocks. The movement would be too much for him even after the soothing tea.

“This may be a very stupid question but if you eat ice, you won’t really gain more magic power right?” 

“Not really? I mean maybe just a little bit but it’s negligible.” Fubuki thought back to the few times in his youth when he’d chomped around on fresh snow for water. He hadn’t felt much difference back then. “But when I brought Aphrodi to the hot springs, he started recovering much faster…”

“That was from the heat in the earth though,” Gouenji interjected. “If you had made him eat hot coal that wouldn’t have helped.” 

“I wish you had a better metaphor than that, but yes,” Kidou reached up and rubbed his temples. “I’m just trying to figure out how eating an asteroid core would enhance an earth mage’s abilities to the point that they can negate gravity. And if that is the case, then what if a non-earth mage eats the core? Would you also gain gravity negation? Or something else? This makes no sense.” 

“Maybe there’s space magic?” Fubuki suggested, even though space...wasn’t really connected to any of their elements. All magic was tied to the earth’s elements, but this was what he knew from the wolf tribe elders. Maybe the Pillars would have more modern knowledge. 

“Doubtful...but at this point anything goes.” Kidou sighed and looked down at their earth mage who was starting to wither away. The blanket had the distinct appeal of a funeral shroud for the wilting spirit underneath. “Maybe you should go ask Aphrodi for that tea. We want Tachimukai alive to at least experiment on when we get there.”

“Don’t let Tsunami hear you say that,” Gouenji remarked as he also got up to leave. “I’ll go find Endou and discuss with him, he’s a weather mage so maybe he’d be able to feel...space.” 

“Good call. I’ll stay here and watch over Tachimukai.” Kidou pulled out his journal as the earth mage weakly groaned. “He’s not going anywhere.”

“That much I can see,” Fubuki replied with a wry smile. Turning, he went to seek out his tea-brewing lover. It was easy enough, as those brilliant white wings were hard to miss. Aphrodi was currently bent over, his upper half digging around deep inside a barrel exuding a sharp citrus scent. 

“Aphrodi.”

“Huh?! Ow!” The barrel rattled as Aphrodi’s head hit against the wooden sides and he flailed his wings. Carefully extracting himself, he looked up at an amused Fubuki.

“Fubuki?!” Aphrodi was holding up lemons against his chest and looked very much like a deer caught away from its herd. 

“What _are_ you doing?” 

“Um...liberating some lemons for tea?” 

“You didn’t just _ask_?! _”_ Fubuki glanced around, unsure of how anyone could’ve missed this sight.

“I suppose that is a thought, but what if they say no?” Aphrodi’s assassin training was really shining through here. Why ask when one can just take? 

“Alright. After this we’re going to go together and ask the cook for forgiveness and some lemons and ginger.” Fubuki sighed at having to teach this elegant man how to properly behave in normal society. “I came to ask if you could make some tea for Tachimukai. He’s faring worse than me right now.”

“Isn’t Tsunami his husband? The one that’s making this ship almost flip upside down with this speed? How does that even work?” 

“You’re doing just fine and you’re my lover. I’m not doing very fine.” Fubuki countered.

_Lover_. Aphrodi smiled upon being referred to as such.

“You _weren’t_ doing very fine. You are now, after my tender loving care,” the preening angel crowed. 

“Yes, yes,” Fubuki smiled and reached over to take his warm hand. Pulling Aphrodi close, he lightly kissed his lemon thief on the cheek. “Now let’s go apologize.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lemon stealing whore.  
> \---  
> 
> 
> A silly comic I drew.


	13. the Pillars

The Pillars were a sight to behold. For half of the group, it was their first time seeing it. Fubuki was one of such first-timers and stared up at the towering building with wide eyes. Wind tinted with salt blew across the bow and ruffled his silver bangs, briefly obscuring his vision of the famous school. Kazemaru was resting in the cabins below, trying to recover before making the slow return trip back to the main Raimon port. The crew was now relying on Tsunami who still seemed full of energy after three days, along with the natural wind to guide them into port.

Fubuki pulled aside his bangs, holding them in place, then stared at the limestone tower that seemed to grow out of the sea itself. The Pillars were named after the foundations of the most famous school building here. The sea had eroded away much of the stone along the cliffs, but harder sections of limestone had remained, forming pillars that grew out of the ocean. Earth and water mages had come and slowly began building on top of these pillars, reinforcing and maintaining them to eventually support the spiraling building above. A familiar long-haired figure stepped up next to him, golden strands slipping free from the cowl and neatly slapping Fubuki in the face.

“Whoops, sorry about that. I should probably tie my hair up when I’m near people.” Aphrodi furrowed his brows, trying to think of other things one should do when re-entering normal society. Fubuki glanced over to see Aphrodi’s maroon hood almost slip off in the wind. Reaching over to catch it, Fubuki smothered a laugh upon touching the rough cotton. The cape had been fashioned out of leftover blankets to hide Aphrodi’s wings when they entered the city. Winged folk were still rare and Kidou was concerned that Aphrodi would get kidnapped to be used for research if he paraded around with his wings out in the open. The rest of the group was more concerned that they’d be dealing with the school guards after Aphrodi murdered the would-be kidnapper. His blades had been returned to him by now after everyone agreed that if Aphrodi had wanted to kill them, he would’ve done so already with his bare hands. 

“This cape is so ugly,” Aphrodi muttered as he tugged at the lip of his hood. Catching Fubuki’s hand, he kissed the ice mage’s wrist. “But you’re beautiful.”

“Aphrodi!” Fubuki hissed as he glanced around. Luckily, the two of them were the only ones at the bow. The rest of the group was out of sight behind some cargo, getting ready to disembark. It wasn’t as if he wanted to hide their relationship, but getting caught kissing the previously number one problem was...a problem.

“What?” Twinkling crimson eyes followed his averted gaze. Out of habit, Aphrodi began to wrap a wing around Fubuki who hastily batted it away. 

“You can’t show your wings off here! Aphrodi!” 

“Tch,” Pulling his wings close into his back, he made do by sidling up next to his overly conscious lover. “Then how’s this? I’ll hug you in daytime and caress you with my wings at nighttime.” Even through Fubuki’s thick fur collar, he could feel the heat of the ice mage’s blush. They hadn’t gotten any alone time yet since boarding the ship, but when they did...Aphrodi wasn’t going to waste any time. Sneaking a kiss onto Fubuki’s warming cheek, he playfully leaned against the shorter mage. 

“Is this your first time seeing the Pillars?”

“Yes, you said you’ve been here before?” Fubuki still didn’t know much about Aphrodi’s past and was curious about it. Hopefully, with time, Aphrodi would open up to him. There were scars on Aphrodi’s body that he’d glimpsed at times that worried him. 

“A few times, yeah. Over there-” Aphrodi lifted one hand and pointed up at the sweeping white tower that had a seaworn appearance on the outside. “-that’s the main tower and the core of the school. It’s where almost all the main classes are given.” Turning Fubuki slightly, he pointed at the other shorter buildings clustered around the main tower that were a blend of white and other natural stone colors. “Those were built later and constitute offices and dorms, along with larger classrooms that house practical or unconventional magic. The farther out you get, the more dangerous the magic being taught is. That way if something goes wrong it won’t damage too many of the important buildings.” 

“I see….” Fubuki was glad Aphrodi at least knew this area well. With Kidou busy securing everything they needed, they’d be left to their own devices for a bit. Sakuma also had his hands full with his own duties, leaving just the Raimon group to huddle together in an unfamiliar environment. 

“And the best part you can’t even see, my little bookworm.” Aphrodi teased him, knowing that Fubuki always carried around books now after being shown the royal library. At every city they stopped at, Fubuki would always seek out a bookstore to wander in. “The school library is located underground. It’s in a huge network of limestone caves that they further shaped out. It’s rumored that it’s still being built out so there is no end to the amount of books down there.” He smiled upon seeing the fascinated expression on Fubuki’s face. 

“I can’t wait,” Fubuki breathed as he gazed upon the rapidly nearing structures. There was so much to learn, so much to do here. He even forgot about the aliens for a moment.

\---

Aphrodi couldn’t make good on his internal promise to bed Fubuki first thing. After disembarking the ship, they had had to go through so many different checks and processes that by the time the two of them had staggered to their assigned dorm room, they’d simply passed out on the bed together. He hadn’t even had the energy to build a nest. Getting an ex-assassin into a sacred ground of learning had taken a lot of smuggling, coupled with Kidou asserting that he _was_ king and knew what he was doing. Waking up to a very rude ray of light that was nearly searing his delicate eyelashes off, Aphrodi burrowed his face deeper into Fubuki’s fluffy hair. Wolf ears twitched next to his cheeks, alerting him that the beastman wasn’t sleeping anymore.

“What time is it...?” Fubuki’s drowsy morning voice seeped out from where his face was buried in Aphrodi’s chest. Reluctantly lifting his face away from the fluff pillow, Aphrodi glanced at the spelled clock that hung over the door frame. 

“It’s 6 in the morning.” 

“When did Kidou say he wanted to see us?”

“6...30?”

The two laid there for a moment, then both scrambled upwards to get washed and changed in a flurry of feathers and fur. Roughly dragging the maroon cape over Aphrodi’s head, Fubuki tied the ribbon shut and brushed aside some golden hair as Aphrodi secured Fubuki’s capelet to the beastman’s neck. Adjusting it slightly, Aphrodi smiled and patted down the blue cloth, leaning forward to give Fubuki a morning kiss. 

“Morning, my little wolf.” 

“Good morning, you big chicken.” Fubuki retorted as his tail puffed up. He turned away, but not before Aphrodi caught a glimpse of the dusting of pink that had appeared on his cheeks. 

“Where did he say he wanted to meet us?” The two of them wandered through the dormitory halls and headed towards the central courtyard. Heading down the stairs, they thankfully ran into Endou and Gouenji. 

“Hey you two! Glad to see you guys woke up on time.” Endou waved a friendly hand at them. “Did you guys eat yet?”

“No, we just woke up.” Fubuki confessed as he tried to avoid Gouenji’s scrutinizing gaze. Nothing had happened... _yet._

“That’s not good.” A deep voice suddenly interrupted their conversation. Aphrodi whirled around, disconcerted from not having sensed this person’s approach. He stared at the newcomer in confusion. A heavyset old man wearing black spectacles and a full white beard gazed back at the small group. Under the spectacles, he had a scar across his left eye that ended under a worn purple bandana that was tied over his short white ponytail. 

“It’s not good to walk around on an empty stomach this early in the morning.” The man clarified his previous statement.

Endou stepped forward with a look of wonder in his eyes at this familiar voice. 

“Teach Hibiki!” He cried out the name of his old home tutor. “I didn’t know you were here!” 

“I’ve always been here,” the gruff man replied. “This is where I originated with my studies and where I do my research. I do hope you have been keeping up with your studies after I left.” 

“Ahahaha about that…” Endou scratched his chin, trying to come up with a good answer. Quailing at how the morning sunlight flashed off of the disapproving spectacles, Endou shuffled to the side so he hid behind Gouenji. Luckily, right at that moment, Aphrodi’s stomach gave off a low growl. Feeling his cheeks turning red at this development, Aphrodi did the sensible thing and drew his hood up over his face. 

“Alright, let’s get you some food first,” Hibiki turned and gestured at them to follow. Not looking back, he began walking down the courtyard path. 

“Aren’t we supposed to be meeting Kidou?” Fubuki asked in a hushed voice as they followed along.

“I’m sure we’ll run into them,” Endou confidently answered. He had eaten already, but more food was always a great idea. Especially Teach Hibiki’s food, that man had a gift with plants and his vegetables were always the best. It helped when one was a plant mage. The path wound around another set of stairs and stopped short of an overgrown garden. Hibiki had swung open the gate and was plodding along to the stone hut in the back when he stopped upon seeing that a group was already at the door. 

“Professor Hibiki!” Kidou strode over and waved in greeting upon catching sight of the garden owner. “Oh, and Endou! Glad you guys found your way here. I was getting worried.” 

“Good to see you, Kidou,” Hibiki greeted his old student. “I take it you haven’t eaten yet either? Or your friends here?” His gaze swept across Tsunami and Tachimukai who were sitting on the ground and stopped at Sakuma, who nodded cautiously at him from next to Kidou. 

“Not yet, I was hoping to have them try some of your famous food,” Kidou smiled and moved aside as Hibiki unlocked the wooden door. The scent of already cooking food immediately streamed out of the little space, spices and oils mixing together to waft along and tease all the hungry boys standing outside. 

“That smells amazing,” Aphrodi whispered as Hibiki entered the hut. A waved hand from within that appeared moments later was all the invitation they needed to crowd inside. Dried herbs and seasonings hung from every available surface. Aphrodi spotted some dried meat in the back, too, away from where the clay kiln was located in the center of the building. A hearty soup bubbled inside a pot in the middle of the kiln. The soup had a thick ochre color, lumps within giving off a sweet scent. Lying next to the pot on the kiln slab were several pieces of flatbread that were simply being warmed, having been baked earlier in the day.

“Take a seat,” Hibiki gruffly instructed them as he began pulling out wooden bowls. Filling each one up with soup, he placed a slice of bread over each bowl and began handing them out. After everyone had gotten a serving, he poured a bowl for himself and sat back to enjoy it. 

Aphrodi watched as Hibiki tore off some bread, then used it to scoop out some soup into his mouth, eating the whole package at once. Imitating the action, he tried it and immediately knew that he’d want a second bowl and maybe a third. The soup was rich and creamy, warm sweet flavors melting in his mouth that immediately woke him up. The lumps were potatoes and some meat - maybe lamb? - that had been stewed for so long he barely needed to chew before swallowing. Coupled with the bread that was crisp on the outside but still soft within, Aphrodi felt like he could stay here forever next to the kiln and eat until he was as round as a winter robin. 

Not much was discussed as the group ate until the pot was empty. The travelers nibbled on the last slices of bread as an air of contentment settled within the space. 

“That was amazing!” Endou exclaimed as he leaned back, finally setting down his empty bowl. “Your food is still the best, Teach Hibiki.”

“Oh! You know Professor Hibiki?” Kidou asked in surprise. He’d thought that Sakuma and him were the only ones that were familiar with the knowledgeable man.

“He was my home tutor for a bit! Taught me how to control my magic,” Endou informed them. “It’s hard to find someone who can teach weather magic - I mean I mostly learned from my dad and my grandpa’s notes, but thanks to Teach Hibiki I feel like I improved a lot during that time.”

“Yes, and you can improve even more if you keep up your studies.” The gruff voice interjected, immediately causing Endou to grow quiet as the rest of them giggled at this unfamiliar sight. 

“Now, I assume this isn’t just a touching meeting to see old me,” Hibiki remarked to them. “Especially since you brought so many newcomers, would someone care to explain what is happening?”

“Well you see…” Endou and Kidou both started speaking at the same time, then stopped to stare at each other. Endou laughed, and Kidou gestured for him to continue. Tumbling over each other’s words, they began to tell Hibiki what had happened so far - a long story that took the better part of the morning. Some parts were left out, such as how Aphrodi _had_ been a problem, but the gist of the entire story so far was conveyed. Hibiki remained silent the whole time, only asking some clarifying questions at the very end. 

“So now you’re here to see if there is any information here about asteroids and how they affect magic,” he remarked while pouring out two cups of water for the parched storytellers.

“Yes, we were hoping to use the library. Maybe some of the more restricted sections, too, since I don’t recall too much of this information available in the general portion.” 

“I see.” Hibiki leaned back in his wooden chair, the joints of the seat creaking slightly in protest. “There _is_ a new research librarian that has been handling the project of cataloging many of the restricted section books. I believe she arrived after you graduated, Kidou, but she should be able to help better than I can.” 

“Oh? What’s her name?” Kidou was curious as to who would’ve gotten this coveted task.

“Hitomiko. She’s not a mage but she’s very good with history and research.”

\---

Hitomiko proved to be a serious lady that guarded access to the restricted sections very strictly. Hibiki turned them over to her after a brief introduction on both sides, but that didn’t mean they got immediate access. Deep blue eyes gave them a measured gaze before she swept aside her long black hair to ignore them. 

“First, try the general section. I’m busy right now. If you can’t find what you want there _then_ come find me.” A brisk handwave then shooed them off as she went back to writing documents. 

“Well alright.” Kidou stiffly addressed the circle of bemused knowledge seekers. “I suppose we can all split up and start looking through the shelves.” Kidou thought about the sprawling layout of the large underground library. “It might be best if we split into two groups. What we should focus on are just magic transfer theory -” Kidou stopped upon seeing blank looks upon his friend’s faces. “OK, forget I said that. I will focus on that. You guys focus on looking up space rocks and maybe how other rocks affect magic.”

Sakuma straightened at that last remark. Glancing over at a figure hiding under a maroon hood, he remembered a glass vial that he’d investigated with Kidou a while back. 

“We’ll meet back up at noon to go over what we’ve found. Don’t rush, since other than Sakuma you all are first-timers here in the library. Follow the lights. If the lights are on your right then you are going deeper into the library. If they’re on your left then you are exiting the library. If I don’t see you at the end of the day then I _will_ send out a search and rescue party. And don’t go poking in dark corners. _Things_ live down here.” 

“I thought libraries were safe,” Tachimukai whispered as he latched onto his husband. Sakuma led one group and Kidou the other, neatly dividing them into two. Aphrodi, Fubuki, and Endou followed Sakuma down the limestone corridors as he guided them forward.

“This place _is_ huge,” Fubuki remarked as their footsteps echoed into the distance. There was no end in sight along the long white corridors that were shaped in stone. Spelled lights burned within glass enclosures on their right, and openings at regular intervals on each side offered glimpses into larger rooms that housed endless shelves of books. Some more restricted rooms were fully walled off, or had a simple chain draped across the doorway with a librarian sitting on the side to check in visitors. 

Sakuma ducked under some stalactites that were still growing and continued deeper into the library. The stone here was rougher and damp to the touch, proving that they were in a less-used area.

“It’s endless,” Sakuma finally replied while lifting up the hem of his cape to avoid a puddle of water on the ground. Aphrodi wasn’t as lucky and stepped in it, hissing with displeasure upon feeling the cold water attack his toes. Magic wasn’t allowed in the library, so Fubuki had to firmly grasp his wrist to stop him from using some fire to dry off his foot. 

“Aphrodi, no! No magic.” Fubuki muttered as Sakuma stopped ahead of them then turned to enter one of the side rooms. 

“It’s damp…” Aphrodi whined as they followed their guide through the narrow stone doorway. His complaints were silenced by the unexpected sight as they gazed at the room in front of them. Low wooden tables were placed at the front, lit up by gently glowing orange stones set on each one. Behind the tables were rows of cramped bookshelves. Scrolls were located on the right hand side in small alcoves and actual unique rock formations were showcased on the left in glass cases. The group scattered and Fubuki walked over to the display case to stare at the gems and minerals within. His eyes caught on one particularly small mineral formation that reflected a sparkling deep blue onto its companions. Just like a gem he’d treasured all his life. It was gone now...and the cause for that was currently next to him and getting his fingerprints all over the clear glass.

“Man, these are worth a pretty penny, surprised they don’t have someone standing here guarding them,” Aphrodi remarked as he pressed his hands against the glass. His gaze swept down the neat arrangement of colorful minerals, then stopped at a certain faceted blue cluster. Glancing over at Fubuki, he saw that the quiet boy was also staring at it. 

“It feels like so long ago,” Fubuki whispered as the gem sparkled in his mind. So long ago that he had relied on that blue crystal to get him through another day. An object he had clung onto as that was all he had to remind himself of his lost family. One that he’d thought protected him the whole time only for his entire world of beliefs to be shattered in one moment. And yet...yet he realized he didn’t mind as much anymore. Fubuki felt free now, free to live his own life as he saw fit and not chasing after his old dreams for Atsuya’s sake. 

“I...I never said this but-,” Aphrodi reached over and brushed his hand under the scalloped edge of the capelet, touching Fubuki’s chest and resting on the rough tunic underneath. “-I’m sorry I lied to you back then. I didn’t know it would have such an impact on your life...I can’t make up for what I’ve done but I regret not telling the full truth when I gave your brother that necklace.” Fubuki reached up and gently grasped Aphrodi’s hand, knitting his own fingers between Aphrodi’s and letting their hands drop down together between them.

“I’ve had a lot of time to think about it and I don’t blame you for doing what you did.” Fubuki quietly replied. “It was a child’s thought, back then, to keep clinging onto the necklace and hide from the world. Now that I don’t have it, it’s as if I am living with no protections and yet my inhibitions seem to have left with it. If something happened to me now, it is by my own choice.” 

“I see…thank you.” Aphrodi’s shoulders relaxed upon hearing this, wings rustling under his cloak.

“I love you.” Aphrodi lifted up their clasped hands and kissed Fubuki’s ring finger. Fubuki began to reply when an awkward cough sounded from around the corner. Immediately separating their hands, Aphrodi turned to see Sakuma stiffly poke his head around the corner.

“Uh, sorry to interrupt, but Aphrodi, do you have a moment? I have a question for you.” 

“Yes?” Aphrodi was immediately wary of being singled out by Sakuma like this. The sniper had made it clear that he didn’t trust Aphrodi one bit and would still gladly put a bullet through him if he had the chance. Now that he’d made amends with Fubuki he really didn’t want to die.

“When we fought you back in the grasslands, you drank from a vial that we picked up later.” Sakuma had left the vial behind in the Teikoku castle, not thinking he’d have to bring it after putting it through heavy inspection. “The concoction was made of mineral oil and crushed stones that were imbued with magical power. We guessed that was how you were getting your heightened magical power, but would you know anything else about that?”

“Ah.” Aphrodi had nearly forgotten about that, or more like repressed all those memories. “Those vials were given to me by the Commander - I’m not clear what was in it but it definitely pushed past my limits of magical power. I didn’t have very many of them as they were delivered to me. But it never pushed me to the point that I could go past my own element.” 

“I see…too bad you don’t know more of what it consisted of.” Sakuma mused. “Well thanks anyways, and you guys can go back to kissing now.”

“Sakuma!” Fubuki whispered with mortification. Little did he know that Sakuma had already guessed all this a while back. Watching the one-eyed boy disappear behind some shelves, Fubuki covered his face with his hands. 

“I won’t ever be able to speak to him again.”

“If you’re going to act like that, soon you won’t be able to speak to any of your group members again,” Aphrodi teased. “C’mon, it’s not like he killed me for dating you just now, I think he’s accepted it.” 

“That’s such a low bar, Aphrodi.” Fubuki responded with exasperation as he readjusted his capelet. “Let’s go actually do some research so we don’t leave Endou alone.”

“Oh right. Endou alone would have us stuck down here for months,” Aphrodi remarked. Turning, he wandered into a random aisle and began reading the spines for possible clues. 

Noon came all too quickly, and the consensus during their brief meeting and lunch was that no one had found anything. Returning back into the underground depths, Aphrodi wished he could use _some_ magic to heat himself up as it was starting to get cold within the caves. Fluffing up his feathers, he found a worn picture book that seemed to have been filed in the wrong shelf. Yet upon checking the card within it, it was in the right place. Currently stuck between two heavy tomes that waxed poetic on the beauty of granite and its magic conductivity properties. 

“Let’s see…” taking the slim hardbound book to one of the reading tables, Aphrodi cracked it open and then read the title. 

“‘The Ancient Fire Dragon’, interesting. I wonder what this has to do with rocks,” he muttered to himself as he began turning the pages. It detailed the story of a volcano and had plenty of rock fun facts within it in extremely old verse. A weird juxtaposition. The paper was a bit brittle showing that this was an older book, maybe a children’s rhyme in the past. 

The story started off with a picture of a normal mountain in the background. After a good amount of edutainment, nighttime arrived within the pages and a sky of shooting stars had been carefully painted on. Aphrodi noted how the artist seemed to have taken great care in rendering where the stars fell, as one particularly bright one directly landed inside the mountain. Turning the page, he continued reading. After a shower of stars had fallen from the sky, a dragon was born from the mountain. Red-hot lava was illustrated along the rim of the newly active volcano and a flaming dragon flew out from it. 

_I suppose it has something to do with space rocks,_ Aphrodi mused. Setting it in a stack on the side, he went back to searching out unusual looking books. At the end of the day, Aphrodi had contributed a picture book, Fubuki had found a few useful scrolls, and Endou had fallen asleep at one of the reading tables. Sakuma begrudgingly accepted the fruits of their labor, adding the meager collection to the assorted stack of leather bound books he had picked out. 

“Let’s take this to the central library room where we’ll meet up with Kidou’s group.” Sakuma picked up his books and then gave half to a refreshed Endou to carry. “Maybe they’ll have found something as well. We can look over everything together tonight.” Each of them grabbed the research materials they’d found and then headed back down the long stone corridor to meet up with the rest of the group. 

Exiting the corridor about half an hour later into the large atrium that covered the central library room, Aphrodi saw that Kidou and his half of the group were already sitting at one of the round stone tables in the study area. A neat stack of books was already present, showing that they’d found a few things as well. The cave ceiling here had collapsed a long time ago, and a stone and glass dome had been constructed to create a room with plenty of natural light for the many scholars present. The sky was dimming already, and glowing rocks that were set in stone above were becoming the main source of reading light. Gazing up past the glass, Aphrodi could already begin to see the faint twinkling stars above that heralded the night to come.

“Hey Kidou!” Endou enthusiastically greeted the scholar who was thumbing through some of the books. “We also found a few books in the rock room.”

“You mean the geology section,” Sakuma muttered within Aphrodi’s earshot, “and you didn’t find any.” Fubuki, who had also overheard this, ducked his head down to hide a laugh. Endou luckily hadn’t heard anything and strolled forward to see what Kidou had found. After assembling all the books together, everyone agreed that it was a lot of information to go through.

“We can go through this tomorrow morning. For now, we should go get some dinner, I’ll mark this table as reserved for us,” Kidou announced to the tired researchers. “Same schedule as today, but after a good night’s sleep we should be able to crack through all this tomorrow.”

_Sleep._ Aphrodi suddenly remembered an important promise he had made to himself. Glancing over at Fubuki who was admiring all the other books, he allowed a small smile to spread on his lips. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Commission that I got from [Kimikoyuki](https://twitter.com/kimikoyuki_13) of the two of them!!


	14. the result

Fubuki rubbed his face with the white bath towel as he walked back to the dorm room. He’d taken longer in the bath, as Aphrodi could only stick his legs in and carefully towel the rest of himself off. The wound on the boy’s back had started to scar, but it was still dangerous to get it wet. It had been a long time since he’d taken a proper bath like this, having already grown used to the luxury despite spending the majority of his life just standing in a cold river to get clean.

Opening the door to their shared room, he found himself gazing at a loose mess of blankets on top of the bed. Evidently, Aphrodi had started nesting again now that the boy had excess energy. The culprit of the large blanket knot (were those bath towels stuck in between?) was currently sitting in the middle of the nest and preening his wings. 

“Oh, Fubuki!” Aphrodi flapped his wings and sat back on his knees upon seeing his roommate come in. Fubuki noted with relief that Aphrodi had stopped accidentally moving the bottom wing. Walking over, he suddenly dropped his towel upon seeing what was at the base of the blanket bundle. 

“Aphrodi are those your _feathers_?!” he asked, shocked at how this sheer amount had appeared. Grabbing Aphrodi’s outstretched wing, he pulled it open and saw that it looked just as dense as before. 

“Yes? I wanted our bed to be very soft tonight,” Aphrodi purred as he pulled his wings back in and patted the bottom. A generous layer of downy white feathers cushioned the bottom of the nest, fluffing up slightly as Aphrodi’s hand moved through it. 

“Why?? I thought it was fine last night…” Fubuki wasn’t following this enigmatic winged being’s train of thought. “Are your wings alright? How did you even get that much out of-” he was abruptly cut off by Aphrodi pulling him into the nest. No longer in an empty nest, Aphrodi smothered his affections onto Fubuki in the form of lots of kisses. 

“Oh! OH APHRODI…!” Fubuki suddenly caught on to what was happening. Blushing furiously, he tried to fight off the kiss fiend, but found himself tumbling around to where he was accidentally pinned down below Aphrodi. After planting a quick kiss on Fubuki’s lips, Aphrodi leaned back again to gaze down at his flustered lover.

“Are you not interested?” 

If Fubuki said no he would stop, but he hadn’t missed the shy looks on Fubuki’s face whenever Aphrodi caught the boy staring at his body. Or how the ice mage would grow red with just the gentlest brush of a touch when they were apart from the group. This was the first time they truly had time alone together, and Aphrodi wanted to strike while the iron was hot. And if the iron wasn’t hot, he was going to make it hot. Perks of being a fire mage. 

“I…” Fubuki covered his face with a forearm to try and hide the heat that he could already feel spreading across his cheeks. “It’s not like I’m not but it’s a bit...fast.”

“I’m sorry,” Aphrodi insincerely replied while leaning down to nip a kiss on Fubuki’s pale neck. “It’s just that after this, we’ll be off to god knows where, and with the whole group traveling together there’s just no good time. I’m going to go crazy if I can’t get the chance to touch you before we go traipsing off again.” 

Aphrodi was right, and Fubuki had been trying not to think about it. In fact, he’d been secretly grateful when they’d all had to sleep in a huddled group together as then he wouldn’t have to think about how to behave alone with Aphrodi at night. Now that he was backed into a corner he was afraid of what he would become. Possessive was something Fubuki tried very hard not to be and yet at times...at times he wanted to hide Aphrodi away from the world and keep the songbird to himself. 

He could feel heat spreading through his body and suspected that the strutting fire mage on top of him was the culprit. Loosening a measured breath, he pulled aside his arm to see a brilliant three-winged angel perched on top of him. Crimson eyes watched, waiting for an answer. Fubuki silently reached up and then brushed against the soft edge of his lover’s cheek, knitting his fingers into the long golden hair as he did so. Without saying a word, Aphrodi leaned against Fubuki’s palm. Still gazing. Still watching.

“Alright.” Fubuki conceded, then braced himself as Aphrodi pushed him back against the down cushion underneath with an eager kiss on the lips. Hands fumbling behind Aphrodi’s neck, Fubuki barely managed to undo the neck ribbon before Aphrodi’s hands had already started pulling his tunic off. Skin brushing against skin, Fubuki took extra care to make sure Aphrodi’s stub wasn’t jostled within all this movement. Carefully wrapping his arms around his songbird’s shoulders, he finally returned a kiss on the lips and let himself melt away for the night.

\---

Sakuma lost his appetite first thing in the morning as he watched the disgustingly lovey-dovey couple nearly feed each other during breakfast. Aphrodi wouldn’t stop fussing over Fubuki and trying to give him more food on the floor of Hibiki’s hut. The stupid angel was positively glowing. If Sakuma didn’t know he was a fire mage he’d have guessed Aphrodi was some impossible light mage category. Poor Fubuki seemed a bit worse for the wear and looked like he hadn’t slept a wink.

Their behavior wasn’t lost on the rest of the group, either. Gouenji was watching this new development with stoic interest. Tsunami seemed to have a gay married man’s intuition and was trying to subtly congratulate them with a non-subtle wink. Tachimukai was definitely expressing silent bafflement as to how this relationship had happened. Sakuma felt some sympathy for the earth mage, as the boy had been violently sea sick during most of this love story. Endou and Kidou were the only two who seemed to have blissfully noticed nothing.

He finally managed to finish off his food before Kidou started herding everyone to the library. The group re-settled around the stone table from the night before and began looking through all the documents. Kidou spearheaded the effort, seeing as he was the one who understood technical documents the most. Flipping through the stack, he found an unexpected picture book sandwiched between two heavy leather tomes. 

“What’s this?” Holding it up to the rest of the group, he flashed the cover to see who had contributed this book.

“Oh.” Detaching himself from Fubuki, Aphrodi came over to look. “It’s a picture book I found in the geology section. I thought it might be helpful because it had some mentions of shooting stars. See?” Aphrodi took the book and flipped open to the ornately illustrated page. 

“It’s a _picture_ book,” Kidou remarked, slightly exasperated with how someone he had feared for so long was evidently not a scholar. “It’s just a story, so there’s no real theory behind it.” 

“Hey! I thought it was pretty interesting. You haven’t even read it-” Aphrodi’s voice was growing as he argued for the book against Kidou. Fubuki noticed someone had heard the raised voices and had changed their path to head their way. Reaching up he hastily tugged at Aphrodi’s arm, trying to get his attention before things escalated. 

“Aphrodi-” Fubuki started to warn him when Hitomiko’s clear voice cut through the argument before she even arrived at the table. 

“What is going on here?” 

“Ah.” Both Kidou and Aphrodi immediately clammed up and looked everywhere but at the librarian. When that evidently wasn’t working to dispel the unwanted audience, Kidou finally decided to perform some of his kingly duties and explain a bit. 

“We were...discussing this book.” Kidou weakly gestured at the worn picture book that was now lying in the middle of the table. 

“Discussing?” A single raised eyebrow met his claim. Kidou sighed and deemed a further explanation was necessary.

“We’re trying to research connections between asteroids and if they have an enhancement on magic performance beyond one’s standard elements.” Kidou began to detail their topic of interest. “Aphrodi here decided that a children’s story was important enough to be brought over for research when these fantastical stories don’t even have a basis behind it.” He reached up and adjusted his monocle at the same time, noting that Hitomiko didn’t have any spelled objects on herself - very unusual for someone working in the Pillars. 

Hitomiko didn’t say anything and only reached over to pick up and flip through the small book. Silence hung through the air as everyone watched her read through it. Closing the book again after going through each page, Hitomiko handed the book directly back to Aphrodi.

“Kidou, was it?” Hitomiko turned slightly to acknowledge the monocled summoner. Trust a foreigner to not acknowledge that Kidou was king. “Even though you may dismiss children's stories as just stories, there is a basis and truth from which these were built from. Follow me.” Without even waiting, she turned and began to head in a seemingly random direction towards one of the corridor entrances.

“Wha-” Kidou stared at the rapidly receding figure then quickly made his decision. Putting the marker back on the table, he gestured urgently at the rest of them.

“Let’s go!”

Hitomiko walked faster than a normal human woman should be able to walk. Aphrodi found himself fluttering slightly while walking to try and put an extra distance in each step to catch up. The rest of the group was encountering the same problem as they began lagging behind. In the end, he had to awkwardly wait at the stone door of a restricted access room and hold it open for all the stragglers. Turning to follow Gouenji in, the door closed behind him with a dull thud as he gazed at the room in front of him. Astrolabes hung along the walls along with globes and maps of constellations. The room was dimly lit, presumably to ensure that the delicate papers within weren’t damaged from overexposure. 

Hitomiko confidently strolled towards one of the scroll alcoves, then moved aside some of the top scrolls in order to pull out one underneath. Bringing the heavy scroll over to one of the blank reading tables, she carefully spread it out, then weighed down the ends with flat slivers of stone so they could all read it. The paper was yellowed and thin at spots, but held a giant grid of information not unlike a certain port master’s book log. Cramped writing in neat grids filled the entire scroll which seemed to also be a log of some sort. 

“What is it?” Endou asked as he leaned forward to better see the mess. His ability to read awful handwriting was limited only to his grandfather’s. 

“It’s...an astrological journal?” Sakuma had figured it out first, having recognized the names of some constellations that had been written down. 

“Yes.” Hitomiko grabbed a cloth-tipped dowel from the side of the stand then carefully tapped one of the cramped boxes of writing. “Now read this.”

“Let me see.” Kidou began to read off the ancient handwriting to the rest of the group, being the only one who could really decipher it from having had to wade through similar lines in his summoning books. 

“‘August 24th’ -this is from a thousand years ago! Wow…” Noticing Hitomiko’s unamused look, he hurriedly continued reading. “‘Observed at the height of the full moon, above the great mountains...a rain of stars that hit the earth and stone’…this part is sort of smudged off so I can’t read it, sorry, but uh...here it continues and says ‘a great flare erupted and all was quiet.’ A flare?! From what…”

Aphrodi thought back to the illustration, how the artist had drawn lava that spilled over the lip of the volcano that had lit up the night sky.

“Good, now come along.” Without waiting, Hitomiko bundled the scroll back up and then exited the room. Hurrying out after her, Aphrodi glanced back and saw Fubuki gazing around the room with open wonder in his eyes. Trailing behind, Aphrodi grabbed the mage’s thin wrist and tugged him along. The door slammed behind them and Fubuki sighed slightly as they jogged down the corridor.

“There was so much in there, right?” Aphrodi prompted conversation as they passed by the corridor lights on their right.

“Yeah...I wish we had been able to stay a bit longer. I’ve never seen an astrolabe before,” Fubuki had wanted to know how those elaborate metal disks were used. They seemed so intricate, and the symbols etched along the sides had been fascinating to observe in the dim light.

“You know, when this is all over, we could always come back here as students to learn.” Aphrodi let go of Fubuki’s wrist only to trail his hand down and grasp the ice mage’s cold hand. Swinging it gently between them, he watched the other group members trot along ahead. “I know you said you wanted to go back to the tundra...but seeing how much you like to read and learn, this might be a good option for you.” Fubuki’s ears twitched upon hearing this, surprised that Aphrodi would remember such an offhand remark. He turned to speak to Aphrodi, only to see that the fire mage was staring to the side with a slightly pained expression. Fubuki suddenly realized that his offhand remark wasn’t as offhand to Aphrodi.

“Aphrodi, that was only a suggestion before we got serious,” Fubuki quietly responded. “Now that you’re in my life, we should decide on our futures together.” He tugged gently on their joined hands and took the moment that Aphrodi leaned over to give a soft kiss on his angel’s cheek. 

“Ahhh I- I see,” dizzy with happiness at how forward Fubuki was being, Aphrodi had to stop himself from fluttering towards the ceiling. Deep in his delusions, Fubuki was the one who had to pull him to a stop to enter the next room where Tachimukai was keeping the door open. 

This small room had even less light in it. It was cramped with low ceilings and shelves that were literally stuck together in the back that took up the majority of the space. Hitomiko tapped a spelled stone on the side and a groan echoed through the room as one of the shelves pulled out from within. Retrieving a pair of gloves from a shelf, she carefully pulled out what looked like a thin, worn journal and brought it to where the group was huddled at the entrance.

“Here,” The gentle light from the one light source set in the ceiling reflected off of the pale pages. Thin and scrambly handwriting floated along the pages that she cracked open. Carefully flipping through, she stopped on a page that had hastily illustrated flames on it. Kidou immediately began to read it again. 

“‘February 24th - the great mountain erupted with fire and birthed a new creature...flames spread across all the mountains....’” Hitomiko turned a few more pages and they saw that each successive one still had flames drawn on them. She finally stopped at the last page with flames on it and Kidou read the short journal entry.

“‘March 4th - 10th day of fire. it seemed to have finally quenched itself in the Great Lake after going berserk. The great mountain ranges are blackened and pockets of flames still rage all around but the worst is over…’” 

“Wait this is just like that story!” Aphrodi’s voice piped up in the ensuing silence. “There was a meteor shower and then a few days later a fire dragon appeared and then set fire to everything around it! But in that story the dragon flew away after…”

Kidou was deep in thought, realizing that these were real historical articles that were records of their time. He was unable to dismiss the fact that this information did seem to line up, but little was known about dragons in general. They were nearly mythical creatures, nearly raw magical power in being…

_Wait a moment…_

“Do we know how dragons are born or created?” Kidou suddenly asked the group. 

“Dragons?!” Tachimukai rubbed his chin. “I’ve heard legends of the Sea Dragon, he’s our guardian deity at the island, right Tsunami?”

“Ah! Yes! In his story of creation, he was born from a gem deep in the sea…” Tsunami thought back to the story that was etched on his island’s temple walls. “Actually, he was born from a water mage that...oh! He ate the gem! That’s right!” 

“He _what_ -?!” Kidou began to respond before realizing that Hitomiko had moved to the door and was holding it open for them. The group filed out, all of them trying to connect the new information they had just learned. It seemed like this was all Hitomiko wanted to show them, as she walked back towards the central library room and soon disappeared without a word. Everyone turned towards Kidou, waiting to see what he would decide on. The summoner crossed and uncrossed his arms, then came to a decision.

“Let’s go look at the myth Tachimukai was talking about.”

It turned out that the Sea Dragon deity was quite well-studied and information was easy to come by. Aphrodi found it ironic that they were now standing in front of a table looking at a painted scroll that detailed the story of the Sea Dragon. Careful brushstrokes detailed how a powerful water mage had gone searching for the sea’s treasures. Using his ability to manipulate currents, he had dove to the very depths of the ocean’s trenches and discovered a sparkling stone that was filled with energy. Upon retrieving it, the creatures of the ocean had seemingly surrounded him and coaxed him into eating the gem. Afterwards, he had become the Sea Dragon and ruler of the seas.

“He’s the one that ensures that the seas are calm and the oceans bountiful!” Tsunami enthusiastically educated them on his island’s guardian deity. “The ocean festival is to honor him, you guys just missed it when you came to the island.” 

“Oh, that’s right…” Endou remembered the blue and white streamers that had decorated all the houses. 

“A sparkling stone,” Sakuma muttered, leaning in closer to try and work out some clues from the painting. The stone on the scroll had been stylized like a star….

“A star that fell inside the volcano, and then days later a fire creature appeared and rampaged,” Gouenji remarked as he noticed the similarities between the historical accounts and the myth they were now studying. 

“If it was in the ocean...Tsunami, does your magic level increase near large sources of water like the ocean? Just like how Aphrodi healed faster when he was near a natural heat source like the hot springs?” Fubuki felt like a discovery was close, but he didn’t know enough magic theory to complete his thought. 

“Yeah? I always feel like I can do more with my magic when I’m near a lot of water. The oceans are the best source, though. Lakes are alright and rivers are decent I suppose.” 

“Would...a rock be able to absorb the elemental magic inherent around them?” Fubuki picked his words carefully, trying to string out his suspicions.

“That earth mage we fought, he dug the asteroid out of the ground.” Aphrodi cut in, having been thinking over this for a while. “If the asteroid was located in the ground for a while, would it have absorbed the elemental magic in the ground and then...grown into a magical core that the earth mage then could’ve used?” Kidou had been listening the whole time, remaining silent during the discussion. Aphrodi’s conjecture, however, suddenly connected all the dots.

“You’re right,” Kidou whispered as everything fell in place in front of his eyes. “The stones in these stories, I’m sure they’re asteroids that fell into an environment that allowed them to absorb the raw elemental magic. And since this is directly elemental magic, any mage that retrieves it can then use it as a core. And the best way to absorb the magic is to directly ingest it….and then there’s the gravity negation...from the inherent space rock!” 

“Oh.” Aphrodi immediately understood what Kidou was trying to explain. But what this didn’t explain was all the unnecessary earthquakes unless- 

“Oh my god. Kidou, they’re trying to make the volcano explode.”

“What?!”

Everyone turned to look at the maroon figure who seemed flustered at this sudden attention. 

“I mean, it didn’t make sense right? There can’t be that many asteroids in the ground with the sheer amount of earthquakes they’re setting off. But if there was an asteroid in the volcano…” Aphrodi trailed off, unsure if he should continue with how everyone was staring at him. 

“...they’ll want to make it explode to retrieve it.” Gouenji finished for the other fire mage. 

“But why can’t they just go into the volcano to get it?!” Endou asked, confused as to how real life didn’t work like myths. 

“Because, normally, no fire mage can withstand those temperatures,” Gouenji patiently explained to his king. “I can veil my body with magic and walk through normal fires, but the heat of a volcano is a whole other level. Normally, no fire mage can counter that, except…” his gaze locked back onto a certain ex-assassin who suddenly looked decidedly uncomfortable. 

“Uh...I’m guessing I can withstand it?” Aphrodi offered.

“Your fire is white, right?”

“Yeah? Oh. Right.” White was the hottest temperature achievable. It took a high amount of magic power to maintain, but it could overpower any other level of heat. Sobering silence settled over the whole group until Endou spoke up, having been trying to follow the entire discussion.

“So! We just have to get the volcano star before they do, right?” He began to clap his hands, then stopped himself. No magic allowed here, and he didn’t want to accidentally set off any sparks. 

“I...yes, I suppose, that is a very simplified solution to the matter,” Kidou answered. 

“Well that’s easy! Let’s just go get it then!” Endou didn’t see how everyone seemed a bit worried around him until Sakuma sighed.

“It would be easy if it wasn’t for the risks involved.” The eyepatched man reached up and scratched the side of his teal hair. “If Aphrodi is willing to try it, he’d have to maintain his magic output the entire time, and we don’t even know how deep in the volcano it is. That thing is massive and I doubt the asteroid is at the top. Aphrodi here doesn’t even have cores, so if his magic runs out, he’ll die. Burnt to a crisp inside the volcano.” 

“Aw I thought you _did_ want me to die, Sakuma,” Aphrodi was a bit touched at the implication that he cared.

“Actually I take it back, send Aphrodi down the volcano,” Sakuma grumbled. 

“We can’t just force Aphrodi to do it,” Kidou spoke as if the one person who could do it wasn’t standing right next to him. “And Sakuma is right, he doesn’t even have magic cores-”

“Yes I do,” the fire mage suddenly cut in, surprised that no one knew. 

“You do? But we searched you! You didn’t have any objects on you with magic in them, not even your blades.” Kidou glanced down at the spelled blades tips that peeked out from under the cape. The golden duo shined with magic, but not of Aphrodi’s own. 

“Well, evidently you didn’t search well enough, because I keep my magic stored in my wings,” Aphrodi huffed as he reshuffled his feathers under the cloak. “You land walkers know nothing.”

“Wait, is _that_ why they glow so obnoxiously?” Sakuma asked, flipping his eyepatch up so he could stare with his spelled eye. “Damn, I just thought it was because you were winged folk.”

“Well it _is_ because I’m winged folk,” he preened a bit while moving aside his cape so they could better see his feathers. Sakuma winced upon being blinded by the magic power in his wings. “I just store my excess power in them and then move it around if I’m shedding.” 

“This makes so much sense,” Kidou muttered as he remembered the rain of feathers that had turned into fire. He’d always wondered how that worked.

“So yes, I have enough magic power to do it, if I wanted to.” Aphrodi finished preening and covered his wing up again.

“Well…” Sakuma trailed off, not wanting to say what everyone was thinking. That Aphrodi _had_ to do it as he was the only one who could. Fire mages that could operate at that level of magic output were extremely rare. There wasn’t even one in the Pillars that they could ask for. 

“If the predictions that Touko sent us last time still hold true-,” Gouenji fished inside his coat pocket then pulled out the thin decoded letter. “-then there has probably been one more earthquake since then that is two days away from the volcano. They seem to strike about every week. Therefore this week we should see another earthquake one day away, and then in another week…”

“It’ll be at the volcano.” Sakuma muttered.

“Would they even be able to make it explode?” Tachimukai asked in a small voice. 

“They’re not stupid, I’m sure they have their own plans,” Kidou replied, reaching up to rub his temples. “Either way even if they don’t, we should go confront them there.”

“How are we going to get there so soon? You guys can’t fly,” Aphrodi pointed out the very obvious fact.

“Horseback?” Gouenji suggested. Tsunami immediately blanched at the thought.

“Would that even get us there fast enough?” Sakuma pulled out a map of the continent. “If we look at this route, through the old mines, it would take us about two weeks because of the ground conditions.”

“Too slow,” Tachimukai noted. He gazed down at the land, mostly consisting of forests to the North and more barren mines and rocks to the South. The land was evenly split down the middle by….

“There’s a river,” he carefully tapped the main river that flowed through Teikoku’s lands. “If we get a boat, Tsunami can probably get us up there within a week.”

“Even against current?” Kidou was worried about how heavy the waters were this season. Snow was rapidly melting and the rivers were swollen with melt.

“The more water the better!” Tsunami proudly stated as he crossed his arms. “Get me a good boat and I’ll handle it!”

“Then that’s that, I’ll make sure we’ll have one ready for tomorrow,” Kidou began to roll up the painted scroll. “Everyone go rest up, I’ll make sure we get a boat. We’ll meet at the same time and place as before. Just have everything packed up to go. Tsunami, get some proper rest, we’ll be relying on you to get us there quickly.”

“I got it! I’ll drink a lot of water today,” the water mage confidently replied as his husband reached over to lightly rub his back.

“That’s not how it works, honey, but _do_ stay hydrated,” Tachimukai replied with adoration. 

Aphrodi turned, ready to head back to their room with Fubuki only to realize that his lover hadn’t spoken for a while. He started upon seeing the look on Fubuki’s face, stricken and pale as ice. 

“Fubuki? Are you alright? I know you don’t like water travel but I’ll make you lots of tea, ok?” Aphrodi enveloped him in a warm hug, trying to comfort in what ways he knew.

Fubuki didn’t reply, as only one phrase echoed in his frantic mind. 

_If his magic runs out, he’ll die._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A soft brush of a wing.


	15. starfall

Aphrodi made his way through the underbrush, seeking out a certain ice mage that always disappeared under the guise of guard duty whenever they stopped for the night. The moon was up high in the sky already, but only a sliver of its normal self. The dull moonlight filtered through the trees and left only a dusting of light for Aphrodi to navigate with. Carefully stepping over a fallen log, he left behind the chatty group that was cooking dinner and gradually stumbled into a quiet clearing. Fubuki was sitting in the middle, gazing upwards at the moon. Upon hearing Aphrodi’s footsteps, he swung his staff in the direction of the sound, then lowered it upon seeing who it was. 

“Ah, Aphrodi. Are they done cooking?” Fubuki stood up from the ground, brushing his tail off as he did so.

“No, not yet, I just came to see you.” Aphrodi came close and took his hand, pulling him back down to sit on the ground. Fubuki complied, then felt Aphrodi’s warm wings wrap around him. He stayed silent, wondering how he would ever live without this warmth that he had only known so briefly.

Aphrodi leaned against him, not letting go of his hand. Ever since they’d discovered the alien’s plan with the volcano, Fubuki had grown distant and distressed. He had thought it was the problem of water travel, but after drinking his tea Fubuki’s attitude hadn’t changed. Wracking his brain on what he might’ve done wrong, Aphrodi had found it extremely hard to list all his own faults but had finally done so. Unfortunately, Fubuki hadn’t been talkative enough for him to discuss the very few he’d come up with. The only other problem he could think of was that they were traveling to the volcano and the overpowering fire element would hurt Fubuki’s inherent magic.

“Fubuki,” Aphrodi decided to take the direct route. He’d spent so much energy thinking lately that he couldn’t just chase tail anymore. “You’ve been different lately, is something bothering you?” Fubuki didn’t immediately reply, only drawing inwards slightly, but Aphrodi didn’t let go of his hand. He waited, knowing that his precious lover sometimes needed time. 

“Will you go into the volcano?” He couldn’t see Fubuki’s face, it was turned up towards the night sky, but he could hear the tremor in that quiet voice. 

“I don’t know yet,” Aphrodi replied, reaching over with his other hand and stroking Fubuki’s fingers that were clasped with his. “There’s a lot of risks, and we still don’t know if it’s truly what the aliens are after.” 

“But what if it is? What if you’re the only hope?” 

_Hope_. That was what Aphrodi was now, he thought while suppressing a small smile. Just a few months ago he had been their biggest enemy. 

“I suppose, I’ll do whatever it takes to protect you,” Aphrodi responded, bringing their clasped hands up to kiss Fubuki’s fingers. Yet before he could do so, Fubuki ripped his hand away and clutched it to his chest, turning his back to Aphrodi. 

“Fubuki?” Aphrodi crawled forwards slightly, trying to see Fubuki’s face. “Are you sick? What’s wrong?” Reaching over, he made to brush aside Fubuki’s bangs but instead touched a wet cheek. 

“Oh, Fubuki, are you crying? Why?” Aphrodi cupped Fubuki’s face in his hands and gently turned them upwards. Tears dripped from brilliant teal eyes, ones he loved and wished he had never forgotten. “Please, my love, tell me. I can’t bear to see you cry.”

“What if you die?” Fubuki asked, anguish filling his voice. “What if you die in there? And I’m left all alone again? I don’t want to be alone! Yet, I can’t stop you from your choices...when you’re the only one, the only hope.” All his worries spilled out at once, unable to hold them back anymore when faced with the cause. Silently crying, he saw through his tears crimson eyes that softened in response.

Aphrodi hadn’t thought this would be the cause, yet he immediately understood. When he had met Fubuki again on that rooftop, that lonely figure had called out to him, a silent plea. He could never leave Fubuki alone again. 

“Fubuki, oh Fubuki,” Aphrodi wiped aside the tears with his hand. “I’ll never leave you alone, I promise. If it comes down to it and I _do_ have to go into the volcano, I will return alive. I promise you that upon my true name.” 

_His true name._ Fubuki knew the depth of such a promise, one that was bound to the soul. Yet….

“You do?” He just wanted to confirm, to be sure.

“Yes, I promise upon my true name. You will never be alone again, I will return alive.” Aphrodi leaned in and landed a gentle kiss on Fubuki’s lips. The tears had stopped now, and Fubuki reached up and held him tight, the two lovers embracing in the dim moonlight. All alone, in the silent clearing.

\---

For the rest of the trip, the guardian angel took special care in showering Fubuki with attention. Knowing his partner’s worries, he conserved all the magic he could, storing it all in his wings. At times, he’d wheel off into the air to scout ahead as Tsunami guided the boat upriver at a nearly impossible pace. If Aphrodi was one of the top tier fire mages, Tsunami was definitely the same for water. The man was just too obsessed with surfing and fishing to usually utilize the full breadth of his power. 

Taking off into the air again, Aphrodi neatly swung around the rising sides of the volcano. There were still no signs of trouble ahead, seeing as it had only been five days from when they had started out so they still had some time. They were already nearing the peak of the volcano and all seemed normal in the vicinity. While Aphrodi flew off, Gouenji took off his protections to better sense the fire in the earth below. Someone had to be available to monitor at all times.

“Tsunami, are you alright?” Tachimukai tugged worriedly at his husband’s pants. He was lying weakly against the side of the small wooden boat. The only thing keeping him mentally afloat was Aphrodi’s mysterious lemon and ginger tea. 

“Yeah! I’m fine! I barely feel the fire from the volcano!” Tsunami raised his hands and caused the boat to surge upriver again, dodging a few rocks in the process. Relishing in the spray of water, he glanced around at the surrounding mountainside. 

“There’s still plenty of ice and snow here, maybe that’s what’s helping,” Fubuki noted. The air here was cooler and reminiscent of his tundra homeland. Gripping his staff tightly, Fubuki crouched again as their boat jumped another small cluster of rocks mid-river. 

“Gouenji, do you feel anything?” Kidou shouted over the roar of the river while bracing himself against the sides of the boat. This was the best boat he could get under such a short timeframe. Luckily, Professor Hibiki had strengthened the wood with plant magic before they’d left. With the way they’d run up river, any other normal boat would’ve fallen apart by now. 

“No--” The fire mage was rudely cut off mid-report by several dull flares of power in the ground below. “--YES”

Fubuki immediately looked up at the sky and saw Aphrodi drop through the air from shock, then catch himself and flap off towards the middle of the volcano. Their boat suddenly spun and careened backwards in the water as Tsunami lost control. 

“Wah- here!” Tachimukai saw a cluster of rocks coming up and then reached out to shape them. Suddenly slamming directly into a freshly-curved stone wall, their little boat bashed into it but held together with only some mild splintering. 

“Thank god Professor Hibiki helped,” Sakuma wheezed as he went over to support Tsunami who had fallen over onto the deck. “Tsunami you alright? I’m guessing the aliens are here.” Another rumble from the mountain answered his question and everyone scrambled for their weapons.

“Let’s get up there somehow,” Kidou noted, staring at the lip of the volcano that was still a distance away. “Although it might take a bit of walking, and Aphrodi’s not back yet.”

“Can’t you summon a penguin?” Fubuki asked, figuring a flying animal would be best.

“Penguins can’t fly.” Kidou evenly replied while Tachimukai shaped a stone pathway for them to cross the river on.

“Wha-they totally flew before when you summoned them!”

“One that’s big enough to carry all of us can’t fly, I don’t make the magic rules, now c’mon.” Tugging at Fubuki’s hand, Kidou managed to get the ice mage out of the still-rocking boat and headed down the newly formed path. Tachimukai was already standing next to the face of the mountain, hand on it with a pensive look on his face. As the rest of the group checked around for a viable path, he knelt down and then raised a block out of the ground.

“Guys! I think I can carry us all up on this.” Tachimukai patted the compressed rock slab that now jutted from the cliffside. 

“Oh! That’s a great idea!” Endou clapped his hands together, spurring everyone to action and climbing onto the flat surface. Tachimukai focused for a moment, then squatted down and began moving the slab up the side of the cliff. He had to stop at times as the mountain shook, but since the earth mage could sense the tremors in the ground he was able to keep them safe. Fubuki kept his eyes fixed on the sky, waiting for a certain someone to come back. 

\---

Aphrodi shot towards the heart of the volcano. Whatever he had felt earlier was just plain _wrong_ and he was worried it had set off what the group feared. Sure enough, as he neared the volcano crater the heat was at a higher level than any dormant volcano’s. Veiling himself with a thin layer of flame, Aphrodi took a breath and dove inwards to scout. Before he could get any closer though, two black masses launched themselves from the crater lip and flew towards him.

“Fuck.” Aphrodi wasn’t expecting them to be _at_ the crater. He needed to conserve his power. Unable to fight, Aphrodi angled his wings and arced in a circle around the crater. The lava below bubbled and roiled, threatening to rise up from the pent-up gasses inside. Another few jostles and -- his train of thought was interrupted by a rumble in the ground below. 

_It’s that earth mage!_ Aphrodi couldn’t spot the culprit but could see that the volcano was now getting dangerously close to erupting. He had to warn the others and then...shaking off the thought, he flapped backwards and then turned to find the group.

\---

“There!” Fubuki was the first one to see Aphrodi, who was seriously winging it back at a rapid pace. Tachimukai stopped moving the platform and everyone moved to the side to give Aphrodi a landing pad. Lightly braking by opening all three of his wings, Aphrodi breathlessly tapped down on the compressed stone. 

“The volcano’s going to blow,” he stated matter-of-factly. “Their pesky fire and ice mages are up there and after me. The earth mage is the cause of all of this but I can’t see him.” As Aphrodi said this, two black specks appeared in the distance.

“Aphrodi…” Endou wasn’t sure what to say, only that what they had suspected was unfortunately coming true.

Aphrodi took a deep breath, then looked Fubuki in the eye. His lover gazed back, a silent connection based upon a promise.

“I have one thing to ask, Endou.”

“Yes?” The weather mage hadn’t been expecting a request but he was happy to hear their only hope out.

“Please protect Fubuki while I’m gone. I’ll be going in.” Gouenji sucked in a breath on the side as Tachimukai gave a light gasp. The air of the group had turned into one of mourning. All but two expected Aphrodi to die. 

“Of course!” Endou reached forward and clasped Aphrodi’s arm. “We’ll be waiting for you!”

Aphrodi smiled, then walked to Fubuki’s side. Leaning in, he kissed Fubuki on the lips, then took off back towards the heart of the volcano.

“I promise!” The angel shouted to the little group below. His voice reached Fubuki’s ears as the ice mage reached up to touch his own lips, not wanting to turn and see the looks of sympathy from his group members. 

Aphrodi dodged past the two snarling wyverns quite easily, then decided to send a few feathers into some soft spots while he could. It was a negligible amount of power anyways, and watching the flying lizards writhe in the air from his attacks was quite satisfying. Unfortunately, they turned around and chased after him. Clicking his tongue with annoyance, Aphrodi circled back around to lure them back to where he had been. 

Luckily, the rest of the group took the hint and spears of ice flew through the air at the wyverns. Fire arced up as well, courtesy of Gouenji who was at the peak of his power next to such a large source of fire element. He managed to snag one of the wyverns that had the enemy ice mage on it with a tendril of fire. 

“Think we’ll have to find some even ground to fight on,” Gouenji called back to them as he focused on surrounding Gazel with fire. Proving quite difficult when Burn landed and blew back his efforts with heightened fire magic. 

“I see a slight valley there!” Sakuma pointed at a shallow basin a bit away that seemed to have once held a lake. 

“That’ll work!” Endou called out while searching the surrounding air for storm clouds. Luckily there _were_ some nearby this time that were stuck on the opposite side of the mountain range. Pulling on them with all his power, Endou drew his sword at the same time. He was going to help no matter what. Tachimukai moved the slab diagonally, connecting up to the side of the basin. After almost everyone disembarked and spread out on the ground, Sakuma tapped his shoulder.

“Bring me up high, I’ll shoot from above.” The sniper loaded his gun, then loosened the hilt of his dagger just in case. Tachimukai nodded, disembarking then sending the slab upwards until Sakuma found a good spot and climbed off to hide in a crevice. The earth mage returned the slab to the mountain side, then turned to face the attackers.

\---

Free of distractions, Aphrodi took a deep breath, then veiled himself with fire. White flames covered every portion of himself, down to the tips of his hair. The overwhelming heat he felt from the open cauldron of bubbling lava subsided as he gazed down at it. For now, he couldn’t sense anything different, but once he entered, Aphrodi hoped to be able to seek out the fire-infused asteroid. Without giving a single backwards glance, he closed his wings, and a glowing figure dove deep into the molten fire.

\---

Burn and Gazel were proving themselves to be a mighty pain in the ass to fight. Stronger than before, the two enemy mages ganged up on the group and eventually managed to split them apart. Kidou summoned penguins at a rapid pace to annoy and attack Burn while Tsunami tried to smother the fire mage with water. Tachimukai was taking care of their defense by disrupting the enemy ground surface and building themselves a wall. He was finally successful in encasing the wyvern’s leg in stone after one of Kidou’s penguins found its mark and slammed the wyvern out of the air onto the ground.

“Nice! Tsunami, get em!” Tachimukai enthusiastically poked his head up from behind their wall then had to duck down again as Burn sent a sheet of fire at them. Smacking the top of his head to put out the now-singed ends, he glanced over to the side to see how the other group was faring.

Gouenji was sending out mini fire tornadoes to try and disrupt Gazel’s flight patterns. Fubuki was hesitant to get in the air again as it was much harder to maintain his power here. If he slipped and lost focus, he’d fall and die. Gripping his staff, he gazed upwards, waiting for a good chance and negating Gazel’s ice when he could. The pesky ice mage was good at dodging on his wyvern and was taunting them when a shot ran out in the air. 

Gazel swerved his wyvern, but not fast enough to have the spelled bullet miss both of them. Sakuma’s shot found an unexpected mark in the wyvern’s neck and the wounded beast careened towards the ground. At that moment, some water from Tsunami’s efforts on the other side splashed through the air. Fubuki took the chance and froze the parts that hit Gazel’s wyvern, further bringing the beast down as he grew the ice into shards that bit through the hard scales.

A shout from above and some rocks falling behind them let Fubuki know that Sakuma had been flushed out. The sniper tumbled down, then hurried over to the pair of mages. 

“Tch, too bad he spotted me.” A formation of ice shards was now jutting out from the small crevice he had been wedged in. “I’m just as good of a shot from below though.” Saying as much, he reloaded another bullet and took aim. Gazel threw up panes of ice that Fubuki brought down just as fast. Gouenji was trying to back the ice mage into a corner to try and burn him up. 

Another rumble shook through the ground. Distracted, Gouenji glanced to the side and saw that Endou had headed off to try and seek out the source of the ground disturbance. Whoever the enemy earth mage was, they were nowhere to be found.

\---

It felt like swimming, but through much thicker water. Aphrodi went through a brief adjustment period of learning how to move within the magma and also dodging the pockets of gas all around him. The environment here was constantly changing, not helped by the fact that the volcano was so close to eruption. Quieting his senses, he tried to focus on seeking out intense points of magic. It was difficult, as the fire of the earth was all around him. So strong, he could feel it pulling against his thin shield of white fire. 

Maintaining his barrier required immense concentration. One slip up, and the magma would seep in and burn him up immediately. Gritting his teeth, he continued venturing deeper into the magma chamber. Aphrodi wasn’t sure how long he could maintain this, and any amount of magic expended going deeper meant he’d need equal or more power to come back up to the surface.

Pulling his wings closer, he ran a mental check through his own magic reserves. His own internal magic was rapidly running out and it had only been a few minutes. All three of his wings stored magic, but he needed at least one wing’s worth to get back out alive. Mulling over this, a sudden flare from all around him threatened to overpower all his senses. In the brief lull after the wash of fire passed, Aphrodi suddenly registered a single spot of intense energy deeper below to his right. It was far, but most likely what they were looking for. Turning in that direction, Aphrodi pushed himself further down. 

\---

Endou felt that their odds were better now that storm clouds were rapidly gathering above their location. Hurrying away from the main source of fighting, the young king headed for the epicenter of the most recent earthquake. Climbing out of the small basin, he spotted the enemy earth mage that he’d briefly spotted last time below. Spiraling red hair was visible from the distance as Endou snuck up on the concentrated mage. 

The earth mage raised a hand and a rift appeared in the ground, causing another rumble to echo through the air as the earth shook. Capitalizing on the moment, Endou sent down a bolt of lightning directly at the enemy. A roar from the sky sounded at the same time his bolt hit the ground. Dust settling, Endou peered forward only to see that two slabs of rock were now surrounding the earth mage who was gazing up at him. 

“Whoops, forgot lightning comes with sound,” Endou quipped as he scrambled away from a rift in the ground that formed under him. Tachimukai could really learn from this, the poor kid fought too fair.

Hurrying downwards while tossing out lightning and then adding rain to the mix, Endou closed in on the earth mage who turned and cut across towards his companions.

“Hey! Fight me fair and square!” Endou shouted as he threw another bolt in the mage’s path. Green eyes turned to follow him, then a mysterious smile appeared on that waxy face. 

“There is no fairness in the world, Endou, whoever wins decides what is fair.” A gentler voice than what Endou would’ve expected from an anarchist, but this wouldn’t stop him from fighting.

“Who are you? How do you know my name?!” Slipping slightly on the uneven ground, he managed to catch himself, then decided to just move the winds instead. Picking himself up, Endou aimed for an aerial attack now, sweeping down with his sword from above. Steel rasped against steel as the earth mage pulled out his own blade to counter. So close, Endou could see that this mage was younger than he expected to have this level of magic control. 

“King Endou, everyone knows your name.” The mage evenly replied as he parried aside the blow, jumping back to put some distance between them. 

“I’m in love with those eyes of yours,” he called, then opened a rift in the ground between them.

“Thanks?! But I have a fiancé!” Endou called as he pressed in again, brows furrowing in concentration as he also tried to strike down with lightning at the same time. A sideways blow on his blade caused him to scramble back, wrist smarting slightly from the impact. 

“My name is Gran, I suppose you can remember it in your afterlife.” With that, Gran turned and went to assist his fellow mages. Burn and Gazel had been pressed together now, fighting back to back much to their mutual annoyance. With a single sweep of his hand, Gran pulled the ground under them upwards into a plateau. 

“I tell you two to guard, and then this happens,” he criticized the two worn mages. Gazel glared at him with annoyance while Burn sent another burst of fire down below. 

“Well, what were we supposed to do? Also our wyverns are dead now, how are we going to get out of here when the volcano blows?” Gazel complained in turn. That was supposed to be their escape route, but the pesky group of mages underneath had taken care of that. Gran thought for a moment, hand running on the one smooth sphere of asteroid core he still had in his pocket. This one was an unknown wild card, as he had been given this before they’d even come to this continent to harvest cores. He had no idea what elements this one had absorbed but at this rate…

The ground beneath them shuddered as Tachimukai, under Endou’s instruction, was now heartily trying to form a crevice that cut parallel to their upper surface. Fubuki and Tsunami were helping as Fubuki rapidly flash-froze ice to wedge it open. With each iteration, Fubuki would freeze then thaw the water that Tsunami further pushed in, cracking open the hard stone and aiding Tachimukai in ripping apart the plateau. Thunder rumbled from above and lightning rained down on the three mages huddled on the plateau.

“Goddamnit,” Burn leaned over and tried to send some fire down, but the rain from above was dampening his abilities. Turning back to also complain to Gran, he saw that their leader had pulled out a round black stone. 

“Wait, Gran, is that-” Gazel’s eyes widened upon seeing the one stone that they always avoided using. Their final mission this time was to get the rare fire core. After sending off all the other cores they’d harvested, Gran evidently hadn’t kept enough earth ones to use in a fight. 

“Gran you can’t! You don’t know what that core will do!” Burn protested against their leader’s actions. 

“We have no choice!” Gran took a deep breath, then opened his mouth and ate the mystery core as the scattered group of mages below pressed harder with their attacks. 

\---

This deep in the volcano, the gas bubbles had mostly disappeared and Aphrodi was left with molten rock all around him. The heat here was even stronger as it was much closer to the center of the earth. Forging downwards, Aphrodi felt the spark of intense heat that he had felt earlier float by him. He turned to follow it when a roar seemed to shake through the entire volcano. Magma from all around him surged and then suddenly started moving upwards, catching him in the current.

Tumbling through while trying to suppress his shock, Aphrodi fought against the current causing him to use more power than he liked. The spark he was chasing after was thrown astray and pulled farther away from Aphrodi. Frustrated, he changed direction again and tried to cross the current to get to it. As another surge of magma flowed upwards surrounding him, Aphrodi realized what was happening.

The volcano was erupting.

His flash of insight was coupled with trying to fight the magma current again. Aphrodi could feel his magic weakening. One wing’s worth of magic was spent now, and he couldn’t maintain a barrier around his entire body for much longer if he wanted to make it back out.

_I will return alive._

Quickly making his decision, Aphrodi grit his teeth and then cut off a part of his barrier. He barely felt any pain as his remaining lower wing immediately incinerated. Left with two wings, Aphrodi continued fighting against current. Another surge came through, but this time the fire mage got lucky and felt the spark drift past him. Reaching outwards, his hand grasped around a small glowing stone. 

Aphrodi immediately recognized this as the fire core they were looking for. It seemed to shine with sheer magic energy, having soaked up power within the volcano for centuries. Glad to have finally found the object of all their troubles, Aphrodi allowed the current to carry him upwards when his back suddenly slammed into hard rock. Pinned sideways, he struggled to free himself and get out. Every second spent here meant another drop in his magic levels. 

Aphrodi panicked, unable to peel himself off of the rough volcano wall as the current of magma grew in power and lava welled out of the crater above. He was so close, but his own barrier wouldn’t last to get him out now that he’d spent precious time stuck below. The fierce fire of the core he was holding seeped through his weakening barrier and lighty scorched his palm. Glancing over at it, Aphrodi remembered the story of the fire dragon.

_I promise upon my true name. You will never be alone again._

As his remaining magic trickled out, he brought up the core to his lips and then swallowed it. 


	16. skyward

Burn and Gazel were both blown off the plateau by the sudden change in energy around Gran. Grabbing Burn out of the air, Gazel managed to create a smattering of ice for them to land on a good distance away. Gazel shook the ice off of him at their landing point and gazed up at the nebulous black mass that Gran had become. 

“What the _hell_ is THAT?” Sakuma yelled as Fubuki threw up a wall of ice to defend them from the changed earth mage. They watched through the clear barrier as the figure in the middle was engulfed in darkness. Smokey tendrils snaked all around, pitch black but with a smattering of white sparks in between. 

“He ate something, right?” Gouenji asked as the creature grew even larger in front of them. Mass was coming from _somewhere_ but not from their environment. As he watched, the tendrils convulsed, then shot upwards into the air. 

“Guys, that’s pure magic,” Kidou informed everyone as he removed his monocle to gaze with just his eyes. “Sakuma, that thing’s beaming like the sun. Do you also see it?”

“Oh, that’s not normal? Tch,” Sakuma flipped his eyepatch down then blinked a few times. “Whew, that’s not good news.” 

“Look!” Fubuki pointed up at where the tendrils had solidified into what looked like a head with two bright points of light as the eyes. Horns grew out from above, trailing black wisps off from the tips. A body had formed, just like the black wyverns the enemy mages had rode, but in a partially corporeal form. Black smoke rolled off its back, arranging itself to present as vast, sheer wings. 

“It’s a space dragon,” Tachimukai whispered. The body of the dragon was constantly changing, as white sparks winked in and out of existence in the roiling dark clouds that crafted its body. Turning its head slightly, it gazed at the volcano, then roared. 

An unnatural cry rent through the air, causing everyone to immediately cover their ears from the discomfort. Blinking away tears from his eyes, Fubuki stood back up to see that his pane of ice had been shattered. Rifts ran through the ground, circling around the volcano itself that was now rumbling on its own. A cloud of black smoke belched up from within the volcano and mixed with the space dragon’s body. Letting the smoke pass through itself, it threw its head back and roared again. 

“Oh god, we have to get out of here,” Kidou made the decision for everyone, grabbing Tsunami who was frozen next to him as he began to make his way away from the dragon. Spurred into action, everyone began moving along. Fubuki stayed frozen in place though, watching more smoke rise out of the volcano.

“Fubuki! Let’s go!” Endou stepped back and grabbed the ice mage’s arm. Fubuki gazed up as lava began to seep over the sides, teal eyes wide with fear. Another tug from Endou had him running after his king, but he could only think about how Aphrodi still hadn’t returned. 

_I promise._

Fubuki bit his lip, then ran as fast as he could away from the volcano. Skidding to a stop, he found the group clustered at the edge of the river and saw that their boat was gone. 

“With the changes in ground here, the water flow also changed and our boat got swept off,” Kidou muttered to himself as he tried to think of another way out. They were all exhausted from the battle already, Tsunami wouldn’t be able to whisk all of them away safely. There was the option of having Tachimukai try the slab again, but as another roar tore through the air and a rift opened up next to them he scratched that idea. 

“That earth mage, his name is Gran,” Endou tried to speak between the breaths he was taking. “I tried to strike him with lightning just now but he basically just absorbed it.”

“That core he ate, you think it’s weather magic?!” Penguins were popping up from the ground all around them, as luckily, penguins can swim and float. 

“I can’t think of anything else it could be,” Sakuma cut in. “He looks like the night sky itself, and there must’ve been so much magic in that core it’s mixing with his earth magic. Hence this-” he gestured at the rift next to them. 

“But if it’s not his magic, how is he controlling it…” Tsunami asked, confused as to how elements could mix like this. He’d had many discussions with Fubuki on how to possibly bridge their magic but it had never worked.

“He’s not. He’s going berserk,” Fubuki whispered as he glimpsed the dragon that had taken flight and was hovering next to the bubbling volcano. Every few seconds the dragon would scream again, the pain that the user felt fueling the changes in the ground and air.

Next to him, Gouenji suddenly sucked in a breath and collapsed against a penguin.

“Gouenji? What’s wrong?” Fubuki began to ask when an overwhelming amount of heat seemed to wash through his very soul. Gasping for breath, he also knelt onto the ground while Tsunami grabbed onto Tachimukai for support. All three of them affected had a direct tie to the fire element, causing everyone to stare at the volcano. Curiously, the lava around the edge had receded.

“Impossible-” Kidou began to remark when light exploded from the peak. A new roar echoed through the air, warm and full of the essence of fire itself. As the air heated up all around them, fire arced and a new creature appeared from within. Pure white at its core, flames raced all along its body leaving trails of orange as it rose out of the flames. 

A head came first; a pure white snout leading up to eyes as red as the setting sun. Spiraling horns of fire jutted out from the forehead, changing from white to orange then red as it touched the atmosphere. A long glowing neck arced through the air, then taloned claws gripped the side of the cavern and heaved itself out. Golden wings of flame burst out of the creature’s back and the heat at the peak seemed to reach a fever pitch, distorting the air around it. Fully pulling itself out of the lava, the new creature perched on the side of the cavern, then sat back on its hind legs to survey its surroundings.

“That-” Tachimukai could barely form the words to describe this sight. A once in a millenia sight. 

“It’s the ancient fire dragon,” Fubuki whispered, gazing up on the creature that seemed to burn as brightly as the sun. 

\---

_Out, I have to get out._

The fire sang all around Aphrodi as he climbed out of the volcano cavern. Heat pressed against him, and yet it was simply a comfortable sensation. There was so much magic in his body that he was beginning to lose himself in it. Unable to see past the brilliant white that surrounded him, Aphrodi could only tell that he was out of the cavern as all the different elements suddenly assaulted his senses. 

The world was so simple, yet so complex. He could sense how much of the fire element made up each component in the world, how he could just reach and draw out the fire and take it back into himself. Yet to create, he could not without the help of the other elements. The world played out in black and white in his mind, white making up the fire he could seek out and black being what he could not touch. 

A writhing mass of black blocked out his vision in front of him. Whatever it was felt unnatural, wrong, not a single speck of fire element to be found in it. He gazed at it, wondering what it was when the mass suddenly attacked him. Screaming as he felt teeth bite into his body, Aphrodi retaliated by flaring his fire and clawing back in turn. 

\---

Endou and the rest huddled together in a cave that Tachimukai had hastily created as they watched two behemoths fight above them. The space dragon had directly attacked the fire dragon by biting its neck, causing the victim to retaliate by exploding with heat and tearing at the offender with its talons. Unearthly screams echoed through the air as the two dragons fought. Each blow that they dealt to each other was echoed by changes in the nearby environment.

Every time the space dragon utilized its power, more rifts would grow in the ground, each successive one deeper and wider. Whenever the fire dragon flared its flames, fire would race along any available surface to burn and grow. Scorch marks already covered the side of the volcano where the fighting beasts had tumbled down to. 

“Is the fire dragon on our side?” Endou asked, unsure of where to direct his lightning bolts now.

“I don’t know…” Gouenji winced every time the fire dragon screamed. “There’s too much fire everywhere right now, I literally can’t sense anything. All I can tell is that the volcano isn’t anywhere close to erupting anymore.”

“Well, that’s one piece of good news!” Tsunami chipperly remarked from where he was leaning against Tachimukai. This much fire coupled with how much energy he’d used getting them up here was finally taking its toll on him. 

“Aphrodi…” Everyone turned to Fubuki who had whispered his lover’s name. Gazing at the battling dragons, he gripped his staff closer to him. 

“Aphrodi never came out, but that fire dragon did.”

Silence punctuated by unearthly roars that shook the ground and sky stretched within the group. 

“He can’t have…,” Gouenji started to say but then realized it was very likely. They all turned back to the scene in front of them. The glowing white dragon wreathed with flames seemed to be winning out, having grasped the space dragon by both the neck and body and was dragging it upwards towards the sky. With every beat of its brilliant wings, heat waves blew through the air and buffeted the huddled group.

“I think that’s Aphrodi…,” Fubuki stared at the two dragons that were now fighting in the sky. The rain that had been falling from the storm clouds that Endou had summoned evaporated immediately upon reaching the vicinity of the fire dragon. The space dragon’s form seemed to be dissipating as blow upon blow from flaming talons and teeth tore through it. 

“Gran can’t control that power, he’s an earth mage so the magic is just taking whatever route it can to escape,” Kidou noted as he saw sparkling tendrils form out of the holes that the fire dragon — no — Aphrodi had tore. Gran was trying to hold his form together but as Aphrodi bore down on him, he was rapidly losing substance. 

“He came back alive,” Fubuki whispered. 

_Alive, but different._

\---

_Destroy. Consume. Take._

Overwhelmed with anger at being attacked, Aphrodi tore at the black mass in front of him. Talons clutching his enemy, he sank past the soft outer layer of barely-formed magic and sliced in towards the core. Whatever he was fighting, though, wasn’t going down easily. The earth shook around him as their cries crashed through the air. Magic rushed around him, ready to be molded and formed into whatever fire was needed. Flames poured from his heart, cleansing everything he touched. 

The creature was trying to escape now, but Aphrodi wouldn’t just let it go. Grasping it tight with both his teeth and claws, Aphrodi beat his wings and dragged them both up through the air. 

_Kill. Cleanse._

Fire coursed all around him, whispering sweet nonsense into his ears. The air around him vibrated with energy as his fiery wings swept through the air. Tearing into the enemy mass, he felt sick satisfaction when pieces began flying to the side, engulfed in white flame. 

\---

“Oh my god, he’s tearing it apart.” Sakuma watched with morbid fascination as pieces of the space dragon began falling to the side, encased in white flames that burned to nothingness. 

“Think Gran will live through _that_?” Endou asked, still worried about his enemy’s well being. 

“Maybe? That’s gotta have some negative effects, though.” His fellow king watched the scene play out in front of them. With a final cry, Aphrodi the fire dragon tore off the space dragon’s neck while piercing through its chest with his claws. Upon being dealt this blow, the already fading space dragon fully dissipated. Black clouds streamed out from the core of the dragon, white sparks twinkling out of existence as Aphrodi let go of it in the air. Flaring his wings, a roar of triumph ruptured through the congested air.

“He destroyed the space dragon!” Tachimukai cried out excitedly, seeing that their number one enemy was now gone. 

“That’s great!” Their resident weather mage began to climb out of the cave when Gouenji roughly pulled him back in.

“Wait-,” Gouenji had one hand on his temple, trying to fight off the raging pressure of the fire. As he tried to figure out the odd feeling of foreboding, a screech sounded from above and flames burst into existence all around them. Aphrodi wheeled in the air, spreading fire from the sky. 

“The river!” Fubuki was the first one out of them to react. Seeing how they would be quickly trapped inside the cave by fire if they didn’t leave. The group ran to the nearby river, wading in and letting Tachimukai raise a platform for them to huddle on. Water ran around them, forming a protective moat that the earth and water mage worked on widening. 

“What’s Aphrodi doing?!” he gazed up at the brilliant white dragon that was fanning the flames with its wings. 

“It might be the fire core, the intensity of the magic within could’ve consumed his sense of reason,” Kidou answered Fubuki’s question. Evidently the ancient stories left out the whole “might go berserk with power” part. 

“10 days of fire,” Sakuma whispered, remembering the crumbling journal entries. They all stared at the being that was now at the level of a god hovering in the distance. Aphrodi turned in the air, then roared again, spreading fire across the next mountain. 

\---

_Eradicate._

As the black creature turned to white in his talons, Aphrodi crowed in victory. This was as the world should be: pure white. Music now sang in his ears as fire seemed to flow straight through him. Turning, he beat his wings and turned everything below white in a single moment. 

_More._

Everything should be white, made of fire. The other elements were pure material in his eyes, material to be burned. Even water could be changed when heated up. It was easy enough to do this, to change everything to fire.

_More!_

A surge of power pulsed through him and he wheeled in the sky, sensing another mass of land that was still untouched. Roaring again, he watched with pleasure as the whole world turned pure white.

\---

“Aphrodi’s going to set the whole mountain range on fire!” 

The fire dragon was staying in place for now, but only because he was busy spreading fire across all the nearby mountains. Snow was burned away as the underbrush was incinerated. Black smoke filled the air, clogging it and blotting out the sun. His power didn’t seem to be waning at all, only growing as heat rose from the flames around him. 

“No, this can’t be,” Fubuki whispered in shock as he watched Aphrodi destroy the mountainsides. 

“Can we stop him?” Tsunami asked, trying to gauge how much water it would take to put out all the fires. He was starting to understand how it had taken the Great Lake to put out the last fire dragon. The measly river they were huddled in wouldn’t make a single dent.

“I don’t know…” Kidou was trying to think of a way to deal with all this, but when faced with a straight up manifestation of a god, it was a bit hard.

“Wait, Kidou, that fire magic Aphrodi’s using, is it his magic now? Has he converted that fire core magic into his own?” An idea was forming, but Fubuki wasn’t sure if it was possible.

“I think so? He’s a fire mage so the magic would’ve melded in with him, unlike Gran.” Kidou was rustling around in his bag, trying to see if he had anything else to work with. 

“Then what if...what if I spoke his true name?”

Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared up at him. This was an option they hadn’t thought of, as it was so rare.

“That might work!” Endou exclaimed and clapped his hands together. A lightning bolt came down in the distance and struck the fire dragon, only to be absorbed within. Fubuki hesitated, then skidded down to where the river surrounded them. Taking a deep breath, he formed chunks of ice upstream then jumped onto them as they floated past, making it to the riverbank. Running straight through the gravel, he made it to the closest patch of fire then leaned down to whisper a name.

“Terumi.”

The wind shifted and fed the fire, forcing Fubuki to jump back to avoid being singed. Turning, he ran back to the riverbank to report back to his friends.

“It didn’t work! Shouldn’t it have worked if I spoke it next to his magic?” Everyone looked towards Kidou who was their local expert on magic theory.

“It should’ve...but also, the fire element is so strong it might’ve blinded it out...I don’t know.” Kidou admitted at the end. “But I think if you try to get close to the dragon’s core where Aphrodi is located, you’d be able to get through. This is all conjecture since obviously this isn’t a common occurrence to _know_ if this will work.” Still a scholar at heart, he felt the need to put a disclaimer out there.

“Well, we have no other choice but to try it,” Gouenji muttered as he stared up at the dragon that had flown towards the next mountain peak. “And we should do this before he gets even farther.” The heat from their surroundings was starting to distort the glowing dragon’s distant image. Even though the sky was now thick with storm clouds, Aphrodi shone as a replacement for the sun itself.

“How’s Fubuki gonna get up there?” Sakuma asked an obvious question. Being the only one that couldn’t use magic, he often had to point out logic loopholes like the fact that Aphrodi was currently thousands of feet away diagonally in the air. 

“I…that’s a good point,” his king admitted as they watched the dragon swerve in the sky.

“Too bad you can’t just ride a cloud,” Tsunami joked weakly from where he sat on the ground, trying to further recover from all the unexpected exertion. 

“Wait, I can.” Fubuki remembered the many conversations they’d had about converting between water and ice. “Endou, could you make a cloud right now?”

“ _Make_ one? Uhh...I could bring one over and grow it?” He began to feel around the atmosphere for any possible remaining clouds. Quite a few were around, actually, now that the space dragon had dissipated into the atmosphere. 

“I found one! Do you want me to bring it down?” 

“Yes,” Fubuki could see that no one was following his train of thought. “Clouds are made of water, right? If you can move the cloud up and I repeatedly freeze and jump on panes of ice I create within then I can move up with it.”

“Fubuki, that’s really risky, if you and Endou don’t move at the same pace then you’d be falling the whole way.” Gouenji cut in, voicing his own concerns with this process.

“I can’t think of a better way. With this I’d have a constant source of water as I head up. I can handle it.” He stood, back straight and eyes set as a cloud descended from the sky. Engulfing the group with dense white fog, Endou sent it along the ground towards Fubuki.

“Let me add some water to that,” Tsunami offered as he pulled some river water and dispersed it within the cloud, saturating it as much as he could. As Fubuki headed towards Aphrodi, the heat in the air would start to rapidly evaporate the cloud. This all had to be carefully timed, something they couldn’t work out in advance as the embodiment of a natural disaster was currently active next to them.

“Thanks, Tsunami,” the ice mage gave him a grateful nod. Taking a deep breath, he gripped his staff then looked at Endou. “I’m ready.”

“Alright!” With that, Endou clapped his hands together and didn’t separate them this time, drawing upon his internal magic and then relying on his cores. He had to keep the cloud moving all the way. A large amount of magic was needed to guide the entire mass and keep condensing it towards the center where Fubuki was. 

As the wind and water rushed up around him, Fubuki began changing water into ice under his feet. At first, it was difficult to work out the pace and he almost slipped up a few times, but after a bit he began to understand Endou’s rhythm. Step by step, he moved upwards with the white cloud whirling around him. Panes of ice fell to the ground as he walked, the sound of it shattering on the ground soon disappearing as he climbed in the air. 

“It’s like he’s riding the cloud,” Tachimukai remarked as he watched the careful dance between weather and ice magic play out in front of them. 

“You think the cloud will hold out until he gets there?” Gouenji asked Endou, who was full of concentration. Endou only nodded in reply, not even wasting energy to muster up a comment. 

Wind rushed past Fubuki as he rose through the air. Hair ruffling this way and that, he noted how much easier it was to freeze the water as the temperature dropped in the upper atmosphere. It was a brief boon, disappearing as he neared the fire dragon that was perched on top of a mountain peak, surveying its surroundings that were engulfed in fire. 

Heat replaced the cool air that he’d been utilizing and forced Fubuki to input more magic to create ice. Fubuki looked around him and saw that the cloud was smaller than before, rapidly decreasing in size as the heat ate away the water particles. His approach speed hadn’t changed, and Fubuki figured that by the time he got to Aphrodi, there would barely be any cloud left to work with. Pushing that thought aside, he focused on maintaining his ice magic to stay in the air. 

\---

Aphrodi gazed around, seeing white spread all throughout. Lashing his tail, the fire within him sang again. It wanted to leave his talons, to find a new home and bless the earth with this gift. 

_******_

He paused, a brief shutter having been opened then closed in his heart. Yet whatever had been spoken was swept away in the drone of white sparks that threatened to consume him if he didn’t release them. The world around him was white already, but farther away he could feel places without flame. Beating his wings, he started to lift off when a curious black spot appeared in his vision. 

A small spot, moving rapidly towards him. It reminded him of a certain creature that had bothered him just before. Irritated, he lowered himself back down then launched himself at the blotch in his vision.

\---

 _So bright, so close._

Fubuki couldn’t tell where Aphrodi was within all of the flame as he approached. While he was observing, the fire dragon suddenly began to lift off.

“No!” Fubuki cried out loud, knowing that if Aphrodi went any farther he wouldn’t be able to chase after the dragon. The cloud was already peeling away from all around him, having only been planned to take him to the edge of the mountain ridge.

The dragon seemed to have heard him as Aphrodi settled back down, then swung the glowing head to look directly at him. 

“Aphrodi-?” The rest of his sentence was lost as the fire dragon suddenly launched at him.

“Oh god,” Fubuki had the time to form a few larger panes of ice around him to preserve some water before the rest of the cloud evaporated from the dragon’s radiated heat. He fell through the air, turning to see his ice also melting rapidly as the giant glowing beast bore down on him. Tumbling through the stuffy atmosphere, Fubuki realized that the dragon was going for the ice he had formed. Its fiery jaws opened and snapped shut around the shards that were left. It stopped in midair and hovered as the wind rushed past Fubuki’s unexpected descent. 

Spreading out his arms to try and slow his fall, the overwhelming heat from next to him increased and Fubuki saw that he was falling past the dragon’s chest. Pure white glowed from within, leaving a blinding afterimage on his eyes when he blinked. In the end, he’d made it in a roundabout way. Reaching out, eyes tearing up from the sheer heat around him, he called out to the being within.

“TERUMI!”

The air stilled for a moment as the world held its breath. Then, as if heaving a sigh, the flames began to wink out of existence. Fubuki watched while spinning through the air as the flames below darkened from the furthest point and extinguished itself inwards. Only seconds passed, yet it felt like a century as the heart of the dragon opened up. Fire magic ate away at itself, wisping into thin air as a lone figure fell out of the cavity. The hollow dragon disintegrated, turning orange as the magic fueling it was quelled and then disappearing into pure heat that was whisked away by the returning mountain winds. 

With the air around him rapidly returning to its normal state, Fubuki managed to freeze a thin slab of ice under his feet. Angling it against the wind, he let it push him to where Aphrodi was. He opened his arms, then gently caught the worn fire mage and began crafting ice panes to balance themselves on to slow their fall. Letting each sheet spin out of existence after he stepped off of them, Fubuki gazed down at the figure in his arms. 

Golden hair trailed over his cape as smoke blew around them, long strands catching on the navy wool and sticking in place. The wind pulled at the slightly singed ends that had evidently survived the dive into the volcano, but...Fubuki had to choke back a cry as he saw that Aphrodi only had two wings now. Clutching the wounded mage close to his chest, Fubuki tried to warm up the cold body. He could hear that Aphrodi was still breathing, but it was shallow and weak. The wind that had previously been expelled from the valley constantly changed direction around him, but with some careful positioning he managed to slow their fall enough by walking down the temporary slabs of ice. 

His foot tapped down, pushing aside some loose stones as he knelt down and laid Aphrodi carefully on the ground. Brushing the golden hair off of his cape, he dropped his staff, then placed a careful hand on the tired mage’s chest. A pulse beat below, and as he kept his hand there, he moved aside the hair covering Aphrodi’s face with his other hand. 

Aphrodi looked so pale. Parts of his clothes were singed from the moments between when his true name had been called and when all of the fire had been extinguished. Sweeping a finger lightly on his cheek, Fubuki leaned down to see if there were any injuries when he saw a hand twitch. 

“Aphrodi?” He reached over to grasp the hand, then saw that there was a burn mark on the palm. Lifting it up to better examine it, he brushed his thumb over the wound, wondering what had happened. Fingers suddenly closed around his, and he turned to see crimson eyes watching him and a familiar smile. 

“Aphrodi! Oh god, are you alright?” Not letting go, Fubuki shifted to better worry over his lover. Aphrodi leaned his face to the side, then gave the hand on his cheek a gentle kiss. 

“I heard you call my name.”

“I did.” Shoulders relaxing, Fubuki didn’t let go of his warming hand. A cool wind blew through the small valley, running through the ice mage’s hair. Pulling his hand away from Aphrodi’s cheek, he unclasped his cape and roughly draped it over the slightly shivering fire mage.

“Your wing…” Fubuki started as he tightly gripped their clasped hands. He knew how much Aphrodi cared for his wings. 

“Ah, I’m sorry...I just couldn’t maintain my magic, inside the volcano,” Aphrodi coughed as he apologized. “I had to get rid of one of them, sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing to me? You’re the one we should apologize to, having to go through all of that,” Fubuki tried to adjust the fur collar with one hand to wrap around Aphrodi’s exposed neck. 

“It was strange, y’know? I could see and understand everything about magic...and it sang to me, I could hear a song as the fire worked through me. I couldn’t hear anything else, until you called my name.” He thought back to those moments when he had felt greater than the world itself. Able to create and destroy with fire whatever he liked. Just like a god.

“But you’re here now,” Fubuki asserted, seeing the faraway look creep into Aphrodi’s eyes. His own angel smiled back up at him, clear red eyes that were pulled back into the present again.

“I made you a promise.”

“I’m glad,” and as he replied, Fubuki realized that tears were running down his cheeks. He had been so worried, so scared, but Aphrodi had promised so he had believed. 

“Oh, don’t cry, Fubuki,” Aphrodi reached up with his other hand and wiped away his cheek. “I’m here now.” 

“I know, and I’m so glad,” his body shook as all the stress that had built up left him. Aphrodi’s hand played with his hair, then suddenly grasped his tunic collar and pulled him down. 

Pulled in by the unexpected movement, his free hand shot to the side to support himself as his lover planted a warm kiss on his lips. 

“Aphrodi!” Fubuki whispered, slightly scandalized that this injured mage still had this much energy to pull him around.

“Do you still love me?” A teasing lilt had snuck into Aphrodi’s voice, a sure sign that this capricious fire mage was already recovering.

“Of course I do!” Fubuki protested. His ears twitched to the side as he heard stones scatter at a distance. Someone was coming. The wind shifted and he relaxed as he scented who was approaching.

“Even with two wings?” Aphrodi unwound his fingers from their clasped hands, then reclasped them again.

“Even with two wings,” Fubuki responded, eyes softening in response. He recalled the first time they’d ever met, how he’d thought Aphrodi was an angel but had differed from the two-winged drawings he’d seen. Now….

“And now, you’re my own real guardian angel,” he whispered. “Now rest, I can hear Endou coming.” Aphrodi struggled to stay awake for a bit longer, but exhaustion took its toll. By the time Endou arrived over the crest of the small hill, he was already asleep. Fubuki gently wrapped him in the capelet, then picked up his staff and scooped Aphrodi into his arms.

“Fubuki! Oh, I’m so glad you two made it,” Endou remarked as he skidded to a stop in front of them. “I came to find you, is Aphrodi OK?”

“He’s fine, just needs rest,” Fubuki’s eyes gently swept over his tightly bundled lover. 

“Gouenji caught the other mages, they’re all unconscious so he’s tying them up. Kidou’s going to summon us a big penguin to ride downriver on.” His king filled him in as they began walking down towards the river. A light rain fell down on them from above, courtesy of Endou. Storm clouds had gathered as far as the eye could see around the volcano peak now that they could enter without being vaporized. 

“The rain will make sure nothing more catches on fire,” Endou explained, “It happened so quickly! We all saw you fall and thought that was it. I tried to catch you with a cloud but couldn’t make any get within range, I think your ice magic was a huge help to maintain the one you were on. Then suddenly it was like - BAM! All the fire was gone!” He clapped his hands for extra emphasis. Fubuki saw that there were no sparks from the gloves anymore. Even Endou had used up all the magic reserves he’d had. Rounding the corner, he saw the swollen river below, overrun with excess water from the rain and melted snow. A comically large penguin was perched on the side and being loaded by Gouenji and Sakuma with three distinctly bundled unconscious mages.

“Fubuki! You’re alright!” Tachimukai spotted them first, eagerly waving upwards. Tsunami climbed out of the river to greet them, evidently having been trying to recover some magic. 

“I am!” Fubuki called over while carefully picking his way downslope. Everyone quickly surrounded him when he stopped next to the penguin, all concerned for him and Aphrodi’s well-being.

“Is he alive?” Tsunami asked as he stared at Aphrodi. The mage’s sleeping face was buried in Fubuki’s chest.

“Very much so,” Fubuki adjusted his grip, and the cape ends slipped to reveal the lack of the third wing. Kidou sucked in a breath, being the first one to notice.

“He ran out of magic halfway and had to get rid of it,” Fubuki sadly informed them. “He can still fly and the stub is burnt shut, he just needs time to rest.” 

“First city we reach, we're getting him a healer,” Kidou promised. “Let’s get on the penguin, we can’t waste any time now.”

“If it wasn’t for half of us needing a healer, you probably don’t want to go back and write all those required reports,” Sakuma needled his king as they clambered up the side of the penguin. 

“I’m going to push you off this penguin and you can go look for our poor wooden boat yourself.” Fubuki smiled to himself as he heard Kidou’s distant reply. Settling in last with Aphrodi tightly clasped to his chest, he watched their tired savior sleep. He let the relieved chatter around him melt into the background as the penguin began to move downriver. Tilting his neck downwards, he gave Aphrodi a gentle kiss on the lips. The rest of the group was busy watching the restored winds dissipate the smoke from the mountains or discussing the dragons. Rays of sunlight began to filter down as Fubuki whispered into his sleeping lover’s ears.

“Thank you, my guardian angel.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>   
> 


	17. epilogue

Feet tapping on the cool limestone floor, Yukimura veered around the corner while clutching his new class schedule. Too excited to pay attention to his surroundings, he missed the fellow white-robed student ahead of him. The distracted beastman crashed into the unlucky student, knocking both of them to the ground.

“I’m sorry!” he immediately apologized, trying to untangle himself from the boy lying under him. Papers and books were spread all around them now, some still fluttering back down to the ground. His eyes caught on the red embroidery on the poor victim’s robe. _A fire mage!_ The opposite of himself, an ice mage. 

“That’s alright, are you OK?” Yukimura recognized the voice as that of a classmate of his in one of the larger general magic theory courses he’d taken last semester. He had never been close enough to get to personally know Kishibe, but the promising young fire mage had a reputation for level headedness and leadership. 

“Yes, here, let me help you with this.” Sitting back onto his knees, Yukimura began to sort out the papers on the ground. Evidently, Kishibe had just been coming back from the underground library due to the amount of books everywhere. One could spend years in that place. His hand stopped on a familiar yellow sheet of paper. Picking it up, he saw that it was Kishibe’s and not his.

“Is this one yours?” Kishibe was holding up a similar piece of paper that contained their class schedules for the semester.

“Yes! Sorry about that,” Yukimura couldn’t help himself from giving Kishibe’s schedule a quick glance, though. His eyes caught on a famous name, one that didn’t teach often.

“You have a course with _Aphrodi_? He’s _teaching_ this semester?! The famous Fire Dragon?” Yukimura asked as he held out the paper to show Kishibe, who was surprised that an ice mage knew about the finicky fire mage. 

“Yes, it’s advanced fire magic manipulation,” Kishibe nervously explained as he took back his schedule. “I got put in the course that’s normally for upper levels only...through recommendation.” _From the Fire Dragon himself._ A thought that he was still too in disbelief about to voice out loud. It had been a stroke of luck, to be caught practicing some obscure spells he’d found in the depths of the library behind a classroom only to receive guidance from the legendary fire mage. 

“Is it true that he used to have four wings? And that he’s a dragon?” Yukimura asked, questions tumbling out before he could stop them. 

“I-I don’t know,” his flustered classmate answered. “I don’t think he’s a dragon...he’s winged folk. But he does only have two wings now, I didn’t ask why though. I think that’s a bit…personal.”

“Oh. Well, I suppose. I heard the way he works fire magic is insane. Like no one’s ever done it that way before. That he can even turn water into fire!” They had finished tidying up by now, and Yukimura reached over to take his own schedule back.

“I can’t wait to see it.” Kishibe softly replied. He stopped as Yukimura took the paper, clinging onto it for a moment longer so it was pulled taut between their fingers. “Actually...you’re taking a course with Fubuki. Isn’t he the Wolf Legend? His classes are always packed.” A mage with a title was rare, and these two had several titles, both formally and informally given, which showed the depth of their power and influence. 

“Yes! He’s a beastman from the South Wolf Tribe, and is amazing with how he works ice magic. He’s the one who developed the aerial fighting style with it.” The fledgling ice mage was excited to talk about his idol. Yukimura was a beastman himself, although from overseas and of the Snow Leopard Tribe. Fubuki was the type of mage he aspired to be. 

“I heard about that,” Kishibe mused over all the rumors he had heard about these two mages. Fubuki taught every other semester, but only the advanced magic courses. The rest of his time was spent on research or disappearing within the continent to take care of problems that cropped up. Aphrodi was an absolute enigma, only teaching when he evidently felt like it, but could easily be found by first finding Fubuki. He was somehow always nearby, often referred to as the wolf’s guardian angel. 

“That’s the advanced ice course, right? That’s super impressive, too!” Kishibe registered that Yukimura was his classmate, yet the two of them were already in the upper level courses. “I wonder if we have any other similar courses-”

“Are you two alright?” A gentle voice interrupted him. Heads turning to the source of the question, they found themselves facing the topic of conversation. Fluffy silver hair and grey tufted wolf ears that twitched to the side at every sound framed the face of the famous ice mage. Deep navy robes decorated with silver embroidery and blue quartz draped over his body, a mark that he was a high-ranking professor. 

“P-professor Fubuki!” Yukimura scrambled to get up, then began nodding furiously to answer the question. “We’re fine - I mean- I’m fine. I ran into Kishibe by accident. Kishibe, are you fine?” Flustered to be caught like this in front of his idol, Yukimura could feel his tongue running away already. 

“I’m fine- oh!” A gust of wind blew through, threatening to snatch away their papers again, but this time the two students held them tight. A pair of brilliant white wings beat through the air as a gold-crowned angel seemed to burst through the open archway. Feet tapping down lightly on the floor, the new arrival’s crimson robes swept around him, golden embroidery twinkling in the sunlight.

“Fubuki! There you are! Oh, hello Kishibe!” Aphrodi called out a friendly greeting to the two frazzled students. Suddenly faced with _two_ of their idols, they were rendered speechless. Aphrodi spotted one of the books Kishibe was clutching and turned to Fubuki. 

“Hey, isn’t that the new book you wanted to read? I guess the shipment finally got in.”

“Ah.” Fubuki glanced over at the slim leather bound book in Kishibe’s hands. “Last week was Port Week wasn’t it? I guess it must’ve been caught in that weeklong shutdown.”

“Lucky Kazemaru, gets a whole national holiday for his honeymoon,” Aphrodi grumbled as he sidled up to Fubuki, only to get a generous stomp on his foot. Bending over in pain, he tried to at least look elegant while wincing and trying to get a hand around his husband’s waist. 

“Professor Aphrodi, are you alright?” Kishibe asked, ever the attentive student.

“He’ll be alright,” Fubuki answered for him with a smile. “He just landed a little funny when flying in through archways that shouldn’t be flown through. The lunch bell will be ringing soon, I’d hurry along if you want to eat Professor Hibiki’s cooking.”

“Oh!” The two students immediately gathered themselves up from the floor upon hearing that. No one wanted to ever miss a chance to eat Professor Hibiki’s cooking. 

“We’ll be going now, thank you professor!” Yukimura politely bowed his head. Kishibe quickly followed suit before the two of them turned and ran off along the hallway. Aphrodi watched the two white-robed students hurry along, then leaned against his icy husband. 

“Now how am _I_ going to go eat Professor Hibiki’s famous cooking when my foot has been hobbled by my own husband?” He whined, finally successful in resting his hand on Fubuki’s waist. The two of them had grown over the years, but he was still taller. A fact he used to his advantage by bending down slightly and propping his chin on Fubuki’s shoulder.

“You’ll eat my cooking,” Fubuki evenly replied, although now that no one was around, he didn’t push Aphrodi off. Their relationship wasn’t a closely kept secret, but it was best not to be too obvious around the students. Although with how Aphrodi acted, it was a miracle that only staff members knew about their relationship. They’d ended up coming here as older students and had become teachers and researchers. The Pillars was now a place they happily called home. 

“Fine, fine, but cook my favorite fish, the hurt in my toes can’t be healed with just that.”

Fubuki smiled to himself upon seeing Aphrodi’s childish side, a side that only he knew existed in the normally elegant mage. Turning his head, he surprised Aphrodi with a kiss on the lips, returning the grip on his waist by running his arm around his husband’s waist. The two wing stubs were still there, but didn’t bother him much anymore, even though Fubuki still checked them every night. 

“I suppose. If there’s some fish left in the market I’ll cook it for you tonight, but for now that kiss will have to heal your smarting toes,” the ice mage teased back. Letting go of Aphrodi, he grasped the fire mage’s hand, feeling the rough scar on the palm that still remained after all these years. Aphrodi fluffed his wings, pleased with how much attention he was getting from his husband. 

“It’ll do for now, my little wolf,” he huffed while falling in step behind the love of his life.

“Really now, I shouldn’t be the one comforting my guardian angel,” Fubuki replied, tossing a smile at Aphrodi whose crimson eyes softened in response. The two of them headed down the empty limestone corridor back to their rooms, casting shadows on the ground as they walked past the sunlight that flooded through the open archways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aphrodi's referred to as the Fire Dragon now, but heavy rumors surround what actually happened that day. Obviously, knowledge of cores and how they work would be dangerous in the wrong hands, so most of what they experienced was told to a very restricted group of people. Bits and pieces of the story leaked out, but Aphrodi, being himself, won't say if it was true or not and will only smile in response. 
> 
> He can't become a dragon anymore, as that was far too much power for any mortal being to handle for long periods of time. Despite that, his knowledge from that brief moment of time where he held raw fire magic in his body was enough to push for several breakthroughs in fire magic research. The nickname makes him smile now when he hears it, but only Fubuki knows the depths to how far he was nearly consumed by power.
> 
> There might be some question on their ages, I had them in my head as around older teens-young adults in the main plot, and in this Epilogue they've settled down, nearly middle aged now haha.  
> \---  
> A very nice fanart by [Princess_Locket](https://twitter.com/princess_locket) !!
> 
> A lovely birthday gift by [Producktions](https://twitter.com/producktions12) !!
> 
> Another lovely birthday gift by [Cherri](https://twitter.com/SpiciiiJ) !!
> 
> A birthday gift by [Koru](https://twitter.com/_koru_ru) !!
> 
> \---  
> Thank you for reading this fic! I hope you enjoyed it, as much as I did when I wrote it. My first time writing a fic like this! Quite complicated and plot heavy, as I laid this all out before writing and somehow managed to make it all work. At the end of the day, I love dragons, I love afufubu, so here we are again.... If you read it again, you just may find hints and pieces that I dropped earlier that make sense now ;3c 
> 
> Find me on my [ Twitter ](https://twitter.com/kuroekoo) where I talk to myself about afufubu and sometimes post about new fics. Otherwise, see you in my next fic! (Wow, I Can't Believe It's Afufubu Again!)


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